2026 World Cup: ‘do or die’, a ‘nightmare’ on the cards… The Italian press is holding its breath!

This Tuesday evening, Italy will be playing for a place in the 2026 World Cup against Bosnia. A match that has the whole country on tenterhooks…

This Tuesday morning in Italy, the front pages of the newspapers are dominated by a single sentiment: fear. With just a few hours to go before the World Cup play-off final against Bosnia, the Squadra Azzurra is playing for much more than just a match. It is playing for its credibility.

Twelve years after its last World Cup appearance, Italy cannot afford to fail as it did in 2018 and 2022. A third failure would be seen as a national trauma. “It’s worth the world,” headlines La Gazzetta dello Sport. “In Bosnia: all or nothing (for the third time),” writes the pink-paper daily. For its part, Corriere dello Sport runs the headline “Make or break” across its front page. The paper speaks of “an Italy in anguish”.

“It all comes down to the hell of Zenica”

Italy will be at a disadvantage playing this match in Bosnia, in Zenica, a perilous away fixture described as a veritable “trap”. The Italian media fear a scrappy, physical match in a hostile atmosphere. “Small stadium, tension, cold,” writes La Gazzetta dello Sport. “It’s all or nothing in the hell of Zenica,” warns Tuttosport. “Zenica is going to be a real hell,” fears the Corriere dello Sport as well.

“The stadium has a capacity of 12,000, but I can assure you that once you’re inside, it feels like there are 25,000 or 30,000 people there. It’s dilapidated; its structure is nothing like that of modern stadiums. Teams coming here feel a bit uncomfortable and intimidated; the changing rooms aren’t luxurious and the pressure is immense because the fans are right at the edge of the pitch,” summarises Miralem Pjanic, a former Bosnian international who played for Roma and Juventus, speaking to Sky Italia.

For Italy, “the important thing is simply to be there” at the World Cup

The pressure from Bosnian fans is likely to be even more intense following the controversy of recent days. Footage showing Italian players celebrating Bosnia’s qualification in the previous round was perceived as a sign of arrogance. In Bosnia, the reaction was immediate, fuelling a sense of revenge.

This will be a test of character for the Nazionale, a moment of truth for a nation that refuses to disappear from the world stage once again. “Italian football has been living a nightmare for twelve years, or even twenty, if we count the failed campaigns in South Africa and Brazil,” notes the Corriere dello Sport. “But now, the important thing is simply to be there and to manage to bridge the Bosnian gap. Let’s be content with that; it would already be a great deal to take Italy across the ocean.” Indeed, the four-time world champions find themselves in this position today: rejoicing in