Italy will take on Northern Ireland on March 26 next year at an Italian venue that is yet to be confirmed, after the draw made in Zurich on Thursday.
Five days later the winner will travel to face the winner of Wales’s semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Despite another error-strewn qualification campaign, Italy still have a chance of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time since the 2014 tournament in Brazil, having failed to qualify in 2018 and 2022.
Facing the Azzurri will be a daunting challenge for Northern Ireland, who have only beaten the Italians once in 11 meetings, and that was in 1958.
Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said: “Let’s concentrate on the first match. Northern Ireland are a team that we can beat.
“They’re a team that have their own style, they’re very physical… they’ll give us a good game but we can do it.
“We know about Wales and Bosnia, and playing in Cardiff is difficult for anybody, but for now let’s concentrate on the semi-final.”
War-torn Ukraine will play a Sweden team that could feature Liverpool’s £125 million forward Alexander Isak and Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres.
The Swedes, though, were woeful in qualifying, finishing bottom of their group, and only got into the playoffs thanks to their performance in the Nations League.
Newly appointed English coach Graham Potter, formerly in charge of Brighton and Chelsea, faces a tough task to steer the Swedes to the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Potter said Sweden had a “fantastic opportunity.”
“We need to make sure we’re in a good place in March. We need to use our time until then wisely,” he said.
Whoever triumphs in the Ukraine v Sweden match will face the winner of Poland’s meeting with Albania – the Albanians are bidding to reach football’s showpiece for the first time.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland, who reached the playoffs after a dramatic late goal from Troy Parrott earned them a 3-2 win in Hungary on Sunday, face a tough trip to the Czech Republic.
The winner of that match will host the winner of the semi-final between Denmark and North Macedonia.
Turkey will play Romania, who were surprise quarter-finalists the last time the tournament was played in the United States in 1994.
The winner will face either Slovakia or Kosovo, who are also trying to reach a World Cup for the first time in their history.
All the European semi-finals will take place on March 26, with the finals on March 31.
In the inter-continental playoffs, New Caledonia – another nation bidding to make a first appearance at a World Cup finals – will play against Jamaica for the right to face the seeded Democratic Republic of Congo.
Bolivia will play Suriname – yet another country seeking a first ever appearance – with the victor going on to a winner-takes-all game against Iraq.
Those games will be played in March next year.
The expansion of the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams from 32 teams in 2022 has led to a clutch of first-time qualifiers, including Curacao and Uzbekistan. (AFP)
