Italy vs North Macedonia Predictions

• Italy have never lost a home World Cup Qualifying game.
• The Azzurri only conceded two goals in eight games during their World Cup Qualifying group.
• North Macedonia finished second in their group, but did not finish above a team ranked higher than 47^th in the world to do so.

Azzurri bidding for ticket to Qatar

Having missed out on the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Italy rebounded by winning Euro 2020, but a second consecutive failure to qualify for the biggest tournament in world football would be nothing short of a disaster for Roberto Mancini’s men.

Italy have lost just one of their last 41 fixtures, but four draws in their last five World Cup qualifying games saw them lose out on top spot to Switzerland, with a lack of goals being a serious problem for Mancini’s men. The Azzurri only conceded twice in their group campaign, keeping six clean sheets in eight games, but a return of 13 goals scored was 10 fewer than Thursday’s opponents North Macedonia managed in their own group.

The visitors finished second in Group J, earning an incredible away win over Germany in the process. Although they won three of their five away games, netting a minimum of two goals in each, Blagoja Milevski’s men did not face too much in the way of serious competition. Romania, ranked 47^th in the world, were the strongest side, on paper, to finish below them in Group J.

Hosts should have enough to set up mouth-watering final

Despite the wobbles they endured in the Autumn, Italy, who have never lost a single World Cup qualifier on home soil, should have enough to find their way past a side which has only ever qualified for one major tournament.

However, goals have been a big issue for the Azzurri, who will be hoping the likes of Ciro Immobile, Domenico Berardi, and Gianluca Scamacca can fire them to a potential final against fellow giants Portugal.

With that in mind, back Italy to win a game featuring fewer than four goals, while a 2-0 home win could represent a decent correct score prediction, with Mancini’s men keeping three clean sheets in their last six and North Macedonia missing key men in Eljif Elmas and Tihomir Kostadinov.