A place in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022 playoffs is the prize as Italy face North Macedonia in a last four clash on Thursday. North Macedonia are expected to put up a spirited performance but should find the Italians too strong, particularly with the clash being played in Palermo.
Italy will be disappointed to have missed out on automatic qualification for the World Cup after beginning the group stage campaign with three straight wins. They lost their way towards the end and finished with just one win from their final five matches.
Manager Roberto Mancini will be keen to focus on the positives as Italy were unbeaten in the group stage of the qualifiers, although they drew four of their final five matches. Their last fixture was a 0-0 draw at Northern Ireland back in November.
Another positive for Italy is that Thursday’s clash will be played at home where they often do their best work. Among their recent results at home is a 5-0 victory over Lithuania while they also triumphed 2-1 over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League.
North Macedonia have been on the rise in recent matches and earned a lot of praise for their performance at last year’s European Championships. Their qualification for the World Cup playoffs is testament of their recent progress as they finished above the likes of Romania and Iceland.
The North Macedonians began slowly during the group stage of the qualifiers but finished with three wins from their final four matches. They claimed a 3-1 victory over Iceland in their last fixture in November with Eljif Elmas netting a brace.
Blagoja Milevski's men often struggle against some of the elites in Europe with a 4-0 home defeat to Germany among their recent results in the qualifiers.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have Italy as overwhelming favourites with a win priced 2/9 by bet365 while a victory for North Macedonia is valued at 15/1 with Unibet. A draw is set at odds of 28/5 by SBK.
Head to head
Italy and North Macedonia met during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers with the Azzurri unbeaten in both matches. They claimed a 3-2 victory in the first meeting before playing out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture.
Players to watch
Italy are generally solid at the back and will be targeting a shutout against the North Macedonians. Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci are likely to be the preferred centre-back pairing and can lead the European champions to a clean sheet at 4/6 with bet365.
At the other end of the pitch, Ciro Immobile has impressed for Lazio lately and Italy will be looking to the striker to bring his good form to the national team. With Lorenzo Insigne expected to provide support, the Italians could be backed to get on the score sheet at 1/25 with Paddy Power.
Anything else catch the eye?
Italy should be too strong for North Macedonia and with a comfortable win expected on Thursday, a -2 handicap could be in the cards at 13/8 with Unibet. A win to nil for the Italians could also be considered at 4/5 with BetVictor.
The Italians can also be tipped as the only team to score on Thursday at 4/5 with bet365.
This World Cup match between Italy and North Macedonia will be played on Mar 24, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Italy vs North Macedonia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.