Italy vs Estonia Preview & Prediction | 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (UEFA)

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For a third successive FIFA World Cup, there is a real chance that Italy could miss out on qualification as they welcome Estonia to the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo this weekend.

Kick-off date/time: 5 September 2025 at 7:45 pm

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – FOX Sports

How to watch online: UK – Amazon Prime / US – Disney+

Key stats

• Italy won all the previous seven international matches between these teams.
• Italy have lost only one of their 61 World Cup qualifying matches in Italy (W49 D11). That was their 1-0 defeat against North Macedonia in the play-offs for Qatar 2022.
• Italy have lost only two of their last 12 World Cup qualifying matches (W5 D5).
• Italy have kept eight clean sheets in their last 12 World Cup qualifying matches.
• Estonia have won only two of their last 13 World Cup qualifying matches (D1 L10).

Italy vs Estonia prediction

Gennaro Gattuso is now in charge of his first Italy game after the Azzurri began their UEFA qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 3-0 loss to Norway. The Italians have missed out on each of the last two FIFA World Cups in the playoffs due to defeats to Sweden in 2017 and then North Macedonia in 2022.

They face an Estonia side that are in a downward phase with a limited squad. The Baltic-based outfit come into this one on the back of a 1-0 defeat at home to Norway to mean that they have now managed just two victories in their last 11 matches, with those wins coming against Moldova and Azerbaijan.

Italy lack overall quality and may not be a team that can put the foot down with too much ease, but they are expected to win this one quite comfortably in Friuli this week.

Italy vs Estonia tip: Italy to win to nil