Bosnia and Herzegovina – Italy : European qualifying drama hits Zenica 
Europe’s final ticket is handed out Tuesday night in the Balkans. Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica stages a straight-up playoff final. Bosnia and Herzegovina meet Italy. The winner joins Group B at the World Cup alongside Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. Both nations have been absent from the World Cup for a long time — neither made the finals since 2014.
Edin Dzeko’s side face a historic test 
Bosnia arrive at this historic night backed by a volcanic crowd. Captain Edin Dzeko hauled them level in the semi in Wales and they only got here via penalties. They missed automatic qualification by the slimmest margin behind Austria in Group H. Zenica’s freezing conditions are a genuine home advantage. Bosnia’s only win over Italy came in a friendly in Sarajevo in 1996. There’s a 58-place gap between the two nations in the world rankings.
Pressure cooker for Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy 
Gennaro Gattuso runs the Italy side. They’re staring at a third consecutive failure at the World Cup playoff stage. Sweden and North Macedonia handed out the previous shocks. Italy beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in the semi on Thursday — Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean did the damage after the break. But the qualifying campaign exposed defensive holes. Norway thumped them twice in the group stage. On the flip side, the attack has averaged over two goals a game since the new coach took charge.
Probable line-ups
Bosnia and Herzegovina : Vasilj ; Dedic, Muharemovic, Katic, Kolasinac ; Memic, Tahirovic, Sunjic, Alajbegovic ; Demirovic, Dzeko
Italy : Donnarumma ; Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori ; Politano, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Dimarco ; Kean, Esposito
Football Prediction Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy
Both teams to score
The do-or-die nature of this final will force mistakes from both sides. Italy’s shaky defending during qualifying will hand clear chances to the home attackers.
The Bosnian crowd will push their team into a physical, high-tempo start. The Azzurri have the technical quality to punish any loose marking on the break.
With urgency in the air and fatigue from the semis, expect an open game and goals at both ends.
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