Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy can at least secure a spot for the playoffs to qualify for the FIFA World Cup if they win on Tuesday against Israel. The Azzurri started off the group qualifiers with a disappointing defeat against Norway, which led to the sacking of former manager Luciano Spalletti. Under Gattuso, Italy have won all three of their matches so far including a thrilling 5–4 away victory over Israel last month and are now likely to finish second behind Norway. That would mean facing the playoffs for the third consecutive time, after missing out in 2018 against Sweden and again in 2022 against North Macedonia, marking the first time in history the Azzurri have failed to qualify for two straight World Cups. Here’s what you need to know about Tuesday’s match.
How to watch Italy vs. Israel, odds
- Date: Tuesday, Oct. 14 | Time: 2:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Bluenergy Arena — Udine
- Live stream: Fubo (try for free)
- Odds: Italy -500; Draw +650; Israel +1400
Possible lineups
Italy XI: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Gianluca Mancini, Riccardo Calafiori; Andrea Cambiaso, Nicolo Barella, Manuel Locatelli, Sandro Tonali, Federico Dimarco; Mateo Retegui, Giacomo Raspadori.
Israel XI: Daniel Peretz; Eliazer Dasa, Or Blorian, Matan Baltaxa; Guy Mizrahi, Roy Revivo, Oscar Gloukh, Mohammad Abu Fani; Eliel Peretz, Manor Solomon; Tai Baribo.
Prediction
After a convincing performance against Estonia over the weekend, Italy are likely to win against against Israel on Tuesday. Pick: Italy 3, Israel 1.
UEFA Group I standings
| Group I | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NOR | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 18 | |
| 2 | ITA | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 12 | |
| 3 | ISR | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -1 | 9 | |
| 4 | EST | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -10 | 3 | |
| 5 | MDA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -22 | 0 | |
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