Head coach of the Irish national team Michael O'Neill commented on the draw for the playoffs for the 2026 emergency team, as a result of which his team will play against Italy.

" We already knew that it would be like this. This situation requires those who give. We always knew what we were spending on the way out.

Italy will be the most collapsible supernative, but we can believe that we can go there and get an impressive result. This will be one of the most important results in our history, which we will continue to achieve. We can believe how young the team is that we have here.

We showed ourselves well in the selection cycle of the world championship on the road, although the result in Germany was the remaining 20 years before us, and we lost the match in Slovakia through Kutovy at the given hour.

I appreciate that the team has progressed over the course of six rounds of games, and it is important for us to get to the best possible shape.

“Of course, we suffered from injuries and various disqualifications in these six matches, and without a doubt this impacted us, but we are confident that we will be as close as possible to full strength in the future,” quote O’Neill Football-Italia.

Previously, Italian national team coach Gennaro Gattuso shared his thoughts about the draw.