Italy vs Northern Ireland, Betting Tips & Odds

Published on March 24th, 2026

Northern Ireland have a mountain to climb in their World Cup play-offs semi-final when facing four-time winners Italy in Bergamo . The Azzurri may not quite be the force of old, but they are still as high as sixth in the FIFA rankings, 48 places above this week’s opponents.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side will be desperate to progress after failing to qualify for the last two finals, which was deemed a national disgrace and just look a class apart on all known evidence. We can’t see past 5/6 for a home win to nil as our initial Italy vs Northern Ireland prediction .

5/6

● LIVE ODDS Italy To Win To Nil

Italy v Northern Ireland Betting Odds – World Cup Playoffs

Result	Odds	Chance
Italu	1/4	80%
Northern Ireland	11/1	8.3%
Draw	4/1	20%

Italy are priced at strong favourite at 1/4 to get the job done in 90 minutes. Northern Ireland can be gotten at 11/1 for the shock victory and if you fancy the game to go to extra-time that is seen as a 4/1 shot.

*Odds are correct at the time of writing, but subject to change.

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How to Watch Italy vs Northern Ireland

Thursday’s crucial contest is scheduled to kick off at 19:45 GMT and will be broadcast live on BBC Three.

Italy vs Northern Ireland head-to-head record

Northern Ireland have not beaten Italy since 1958, losing six of their eight subsequent encounters.

They did manage to hold the Azzurri to a goalless stalemate in Belfast during qualifying for the 2022 World Cup , but had previously been beaten 2-0 in the away fixture. A repeat of that latter scoreline is quoted at 5/1 and offers plenty of appeal.

Italy Form Guide

Italy had to settle for second best in Group I after twice going down to an Erling Haaland -inspired Norway outfit, losing 3-0 away and 4-1 in Milan. However, the Azzurri did come out on top in all six of their other fixtures, including clean-sheet victories against Israel , Estonia and Moldova on home turf.

Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma will captain a team containing lots of experience of playing at the highest level in European club football . Young forward Pio Esposito has really risen to prominence this season, scoring in three of Italy’s last four games and helping Inter Milan to establish a healthy lead at the top of Serie A.

Having struck in the Nerazzurri’s past two matches against Atalanta and Fiorentina , the 20-year-old is sure to be popular in the main goalscorer markets among the Italy vs Northern Ireland odds.

11/10

● LIVE ODDS Francesco Pio Esposito Anytime Goalscorer

Northern Ireland Form Guide

Michael O’Neill’s men earned plenty of praise for a couple of gutsy efforts against Germany in Group A and notably enjoyed a 2-0 home win over Slovakia last October. O’Neill , who has spent the last month juggling Northern Ireland duties with managing relegation-battling Blackburn in the Championship , is keen to test Italy’s nerve after they lost at home to North Macedonia at this stage four years ago.

He said, “The pressure is for them to deal with. We can add to that with how we play the game, how we approach the game.” The worry is that Northern Ireland have only scored one goal in their last three games, losing 1-0 to Germany and Slovakia before just edging out lowly Luxembourg in Belfast by the same scoreline.

The visitors could make it tense for a while, but the Azzurri are expected to wear them down in the end, so a BOYLE Sports price boost of 3/1 for Draw HT/Italy FT is added to our Italy vs Northern Ireland betting tips.

3/1

● LIVE ODDS Half Time/Full Time - Draw - Italy WAS 11/4 Price Boosts