The road to America is still long, but Italy have cleared a major hurdle. In Udine, the Azzurri earned a convincing 3–0 victory over Israel — their fifth straight win in the group and the fourth under head coach Gennaro Gattuso — sealing a place in the March play-offs with two matches to spare. Only a slip-up by Norway on November 13 against Estonia could reopen the fight for first place, potentially turning the clash between Italy and the Scandinavians at San Siro three days later into a true decider. The scoreline, though, doesn’t tell the full story.

In front of 10,000 fans, Italy struggled to break through in the opening half-hour and only went ahead before the break thanks to Mateo Retegui, who earned and converted a penalty — redeeming himself after missing one last weekend. The No. 9 doubled the lead with a superb strike, and Mancini’s stoppage-time finish sealed the 3–0 result. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma also played a key role, producing two crucial saves to deny Solomon and Gloukh and keeping Italy’s sheet clean for the night.

“The boys did well,” said Gattuso afterwards. “It was a tricky game — we had everything to lose today. They stayed compact, showed great spirit, and keeping a clean sheet matters too. Gigio made two big saves, Locatelli was excellent, and even Raspadori worked hard and did what was needed.” With twelve points and sixteen goals in his first four matches in charge, Gattuso’s record is impressive — yet the coach remains grounded: “We still have to learn how to suffer. Very few teams in the world can dominate all the time. We have quality when we have the ball, but we need to rebuild our compactness and keep improving step by step.”

For Retegui, it was his third brace for the national team — a reminder of his natural scoring instinct even without his strike partner Moise Kean. “I’m really happy,” he said after the match. “We’re growing and starting to understand what the coach wants. The team is strong, we have quality up front, and today we defended well too. A clean sheet is always good. Now we rest, keep our feet on the ground, and keep improving.”