Italy will kick off their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday (2:45 pm ET), trying to qualify for their first World Cup in 12 years, with a trip up north — way north — to take on Norway in Oslo.

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Norway are already top of Group I with six points after two games, while Italy are yet to play a qualifier due to reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Nations League back in March when they bowed out to Germany, 5-4 over two legs. After failing to get out of the group stage in back-to-back World Cups (2010 and 2014, after champions in 2006), the Azzurri have regressed even further by failing to even reach the final tournament in 2018 and 2022. They did, of course, use those qualifying failures to bookend th

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