Ancelotti Bets on Italy's World Cup Fortunes in the Playoff Showdown
30 March 2026
Italy's World Cup Playoff Outlook
Italy is preparing to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European playoff for the 2026 World Cup, and Carlo Ancelotti—described in this piece as the Brazil coach—shares his assessment of Italy's chances while managing Brazil in this context.
The final will be played on Tuesday, as Italy aims to return to the World Cup after failing to qualify since 2014, a year that Bosnia participated in the tournament for the first and only time.
In an interview, Ancelotti said, "Best of luck to Gennaro Gattuso, and I look forward to seeing him at the World Cup. He'll be present 100%, or, if we're optimistic, 95%. Let fate decide."
He added, "The only sure thing is that Italy will find themselves in a relatively easy group, with Switzerland as the strongest side." He expressed confidence that the Azzurri will participate.
The qualifier will be in Group B with Qatar, Canada, and Switzerland.
He also addressed the challenges of overseeing players who mostly play in Europe: "The difficulty lies in following players, since most top players compete in other leagues, and distance complicates things despite television. Among those playing far away are Bremer and Wesley. The return of a Juventus player is a very strong boost for defense."
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