Italy 0 – 1 North Macedonia

Italy missed out on a second consecutive World Cup after losing 1-0 at home to North Macedonia, with Aleksandar Trajkovski scoring the winner in second-half stoppage time.

European champions Italy did not qualify for the World Cup four years ago, their first failure to reach the tournament since 1958, but they dominated from the off in Palermo and looked on course for victory.

The hosts became more desperate in their search for a winner after the break as chances continued to come and go before, in stoppage time, Trajkovski arrowed in a stunning winner to spark wild North Macedonian celebrations.

Roberto Mancini’s Italy side had 32 efforts at goal in the match, but somehow fell short, with North Macedonia going on to play Portugal in the playoff final on Tuesday – live on Sky Sports – for a place at the World Cup.

Portugal see off Turkey to move one step closer

Portugal moved one step closer to reaching the World Cup with a 3-1 win over Turkey, whose striker Burak Yilmaz skied a penalty five minutes from full-time that would have drawn the sides level in their playoff semi-final on Thursday.

Roared by a sold-out Dragao Stadium in Porto, Portugal dominated the game from the start and went 2-0 up in the first half after Otavio scored one goal and created another for Diogo Jota.

But Fernando Santos’s side were pegged back by a Yilmaz goal in the 65th minute that put the Portuguese fans on the edge of their seats as Turkey started to threaten.

Defender Jose Fonte then fouled Enes Unal inside the area in the 85th minute to concede a penalty that Yilmaz fired high over the bar.

Portugal substitute Matheus Nunes relieved the pressure on the hosts in added time with their third goal from a counter attack.

After missing out on automatic qualification in November, they will now host North Macedonia on Tuesday with the winner qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.