Norway Vs Italy World Cup Qualifiers 2026: Predicted Lineups And Where To Watch

Italy made their debut in the World Cup qualifiers against Norway this evening with Diego Coppola expected to make his international debut against Erling Haaland and Mateo Retegui in attack.

It kicks off at 20:45 CET (19:45 BST) at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.

It’s the first game in the World Cup qualifiers for the Azzurri, while Norway have already taken the lead in Group I, winning their opening two matches.

Italy CT Luciano Spalletti has been forced to make several changes to the original squad, seeing Alessandro Buongiorno, Matteo Gabbia, Manuel Locatelli and Moise Kean pulling out of the squad due to injuries, while Francesco Acerbi refused to play for the national team, not feeling part of Spalletti’s project.

Hellas Verona defender Coppola, 21, is expected to make his debut in a three-man defence, joining Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Alessandro Bastoni.

World Cup qualification for 2026 has already started for some nations

World Cup qualification for 2026 has already started for some nations, including Norway. Meanwhile, it will be Italy’s opening game.

Norway hasn’t qualified for a World Cup finals since 1998. Italy, despite being one of European football’s giants, missed out on the last two tournaments.

Norway’s bid to qualify got off to a perfect start in March. They comfortably beat Moldova and Israel, but they now face a much sterner challenge. The Norwegians are in fine form at the moment, but they haven’t faced a side of Italy’s calibre yet.

Norway Vs Italy World Cup Qualifiers 2026: Predicted Lineups And Where To Watch — Norway Vs Italy World Cup Qualifiers 2026 Predicted Lineups and Where To Watch, Credits- Twitter

With the likes of Odegaard and Haaland in the team, the Norwegians can cook up something special to challenge the Italians.

There’s a lot at stake for Italy in this campaign. They failed to qualify for the last two World Cup finals and have never before missed three in a row. The Azzurri will be bidding to kick-start their campaign on a strong note following their exit from the Nations League in March.