Italy beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in World Cup playoff semifinal; Gyökeres gets hat trick for Sweden

Italy finally won a match in the World Cup playoffs. Now the four-time champion needs to win one more to avoid failing to qualify for a third straight time. The Azzurri beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in the European semifinals on Thursday. Sandro Tonali broke the deadlock with a half-volley early in the second half for Italy at home in Bergamo and then

World Cup playoffs: Italy on edge, Sweden shorn of stars and another chance for Lewandowski

When Fabio Cannavaro raised aloft the golden World Cup trophy inside Berlin's Olympic Stadium in 2006, few could have imagined the pain soccer's biggest event would inflict on Italy over the next two decades. In 2010, the Azzurri put up a woeful title defense, not even winning a game in an embarrassing group-stage exit. In 2014, they again didn't reach

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