World Cup playoffs: Gyokeres fires Sweden into final; Irish, Welsh heartache
Twenty-two teams entered European and intercontinental playoffs to determine which six nations will clinch the last remaining 2026 World Cup berths. Below, we run through all of Thursday's playoff action.
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European playoffs | Intercontinental playoffs
European playoffs
Sixteen European teams started the day with dreams of reaching this summer's World Cup. That group was trimmed down to eight remaining hopefuls following an impassioned slate of semifinal matches.
Path A
Italy 2, Northern Ireland 0
Wales 1, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 (Bosnia wins 4-2 on penalties)
Sandro Tonali's edge-of-the-box smash and Moise Kean's precise finish kept Italy's hopes of reaching its first World Cup since 2014 alive.
The Azzurri will face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoff final. Bosnian icon Edin Dzeko's 86th-minute header forced his team's semifinal against Wales into extra time in Cardiff. It eventually went to a shootout, where Brennan Johnson blazed his effort over the bar and Neco Williams' attempt was saved before 18-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic struck Bosnia's winner.
Bosnia will host the Path A final on March 31.
Path B
Ukraine 1, Sweden 3
Poland 2, Albania 1
After going goalless through his last four competitive outings for Sweden, Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres smashed a hat-trick past Ukraine to send his country into the playoff final.
Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski scored the equalizer and Piotr Zielinski bagged the winner as Poland battled back to beat Albania and set up an intriguing winner-take-all clash with the Swedes.
Sweden will host the Path B final on March 31.
Path C
Turkey 1, Romania 0
Slovakia 3, Kosovo 4
Turkey's win over Romania wasn't awash with quality. Real Madrid's Arda Guler unsurprisingly produced the match's standout moment with a stunning, sweeping pass for Ferdi Kadioglu's decisive goal in front of a raucous crowd.
Kosovo is potentially 90 minutes from its first-ever World Cup appearance after roaring back from 2-1 down to engineer a famous victory in a seven-goal thriller in Slovakia.
Kosovo will host the Path C final on March 31.
Path D
Denmark 4, North Macedonia 0
Czechia 2, Ireland 2 (Czechia wins 4-3 on penalties)
Denmark moved closer to its third straight appearance at a World Cup - and its fifth out of the last seven editions - by thumping North Macedonia, with Lazio's Gustav Isaksen weighing in with two goals.
Ladislav Krejci nodded home in the 86th minute to send Czechia's clash with Ireland into extra time, and then opened his country's scoring in the penalty shootout. Caoimhin Kelleher saved Mojmir Chytil's effort, but failed attempts from Finn Azaz and Alan Browne meant Ireland's wait to play at a World Cup extends to at least 28 years.
Czechia will host the Path D final on March 31.
Intercontinental playoffs
Six teams from around the globe entered the mix for two World Cup berths via FIFA's intercontinental playoff route.
Bolivia 2, Suriname 1
Bolivia fought back from a goal down against Suriname - positioned 117th in FIFA's men's rankings - to remain on course for its fourth World Cup appearance. Goals from youngsters Moises Paniagua and Miguel Terceros, who have a combined age of just 39, turned the fixture around after Liam van Gelderen gave Suriname a surprise lead in Guadalupe, Mexico.
Bolivia will face Graham Arnold's Iraq next Tuesday to determine which nation competes in North America.
New Caledonia vs. Jamaica (11:00 p.m. ET)
The winner of this semifinal will take on DR Congo on Tuesday. Like Iraq, Sebastien Desabre's DR Congo received a bye to the finals as one of the top-ranked teams involved in the intercontinental playoffs.