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World Cup World Cup Countdown LIVE 2m ago live Updated 19s ago Four of the final six places at the 2026 World Cup will be decided in today's European play-off finals. All four matches are underway and we will have updates from each of them included in this coverage. In the UK, the four matches are being shown on Prime Video, though require pay-per-view, while they are available on Fox Sports and Fubo in the United States. Latest scores Share your thoughts: live@theathletic. com 17’ Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-1 Italy Kean's incredible run continues. That's the sixth game in-a-row he has now scored for Italy and one that immediately calms some nerves for the travelling Italians 16’ Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-1 Italy That is not one that Bosnia will want to see again! A mistake at the back from Vasilj allows Italy in and Keane finishes with real quality. They lead. 12’ Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0 Italy The pitch in Bosnia has clearly seen better days — it has taken plenty of rain and even some snow in the past week. A few players have slipped around a bit, with the hosts playing in their all blue kit and Italy in their white away strip. Italy are moving the ball nicely but are yet to carve their opponents open. 9’ Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0 Italy These properties did not appear on Airbnb . .. It’s a dream start for Czech Republic, who are 1-0 up. A Vladimir Coufal corner comes all the way to Pavel Sulc on the edge of the box who strikes it on the half-volley into the top right corner. 7’ Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0 Italy Remarkable choreography from . .. the tower block behind the Bosnia end. Flares lit from several floors, fireworks set off from the roof. GOAL: Czech Republic 1-0 Denmark (Sulc 4') 5’ Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0 Italy Well that could have gone anywhere! Italy struggle to clear their lines after Dzeko tried to get a shot away, it fell to Memic and the winger whipped in a lovely cross that needed a touch to put the hosts ahead. Instead, Italy get it away. 1’ Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0 Italy The referee blows his whistle and we are off! The noise inside the stadium sounds pretty intimidating, let’s see who stands up to the task tonight. Spare a thought for last Thursday’s losing play-off semi-finalists, now forced to face each other tonight. Before the draw, UEFA decreed that each defeated side would meet the other loser from their particular bracket. Expect glum faces and sparse crowds for what may be the most joyless set of friendlies ever devised. The players are out in Zenica and we have heard the anthems (once again for the record, Italy's is the best in world football). Kick-off is right around the corner. There is interest for each of the 2026 World Cup host nations in this evening's European play-offs, not least because all three of them will face one of tonight's winners in the group stage. Group A Group B Group D The winner between Sweden and Poland will go into Group F alongside Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia. After a slow start, Denmark made light work of North Macedonia in the second half of Thursday's semi-final. Today brings a trickier test in the form of a trip to Prague to face a Czech Republic side who showed tremendous heart to come from 2-0 down against Republic of Ireland to beat them on penalties. That one is a really tough one to call. No goal-line technology in Zenica. Could make things interesting in Bosnia-Italy. The pitch must not be an excuse, Gattuso said last night. If it is bad for us, it is bad for Bosnia too. As the teams walked out for the national anthems in Bergamo last Thursday night, Sandro Tonali looked down the line and sized up Italy’s opponents. They were Northern Irish and mostly drawn from the bottom half of the Championship. In the days leading up to the World Cup play-off semi-final, Gennaro Gattuso’s staff had prepared videos of them for Tonali and his team-mates to study. The one game in Tonali’s career he’d like to replay is one that lives in ignominy: North Macedonia, four years ago. Another play-off semi-final for World Cup qualification. Italy were European champions at the time. No one expected them to lose in Palermo. Then Aleksandar Trajkovski scored in the 90th minute. It brought the Italians to their knees. Twenty-six this coming May, Tonali is yet to play for his country at a major tournament. GO FURTHER Sandro Tonali is Italy’s main man. What does the future hold for Newcastle midfielder? Kosovo's line-up features two well known entities at either end. Arijanet Muric, previously of Manchester City, Burnley and Ipswich Town, is in goal, making his 50th appearance for his nation. He has been excellent for Sassuolo in Serie A this season, ranking second (behind Mike Maignan) for non-penalty goals prevented with 7. 2 (32 conceded from 39. 2 expected goals on target). Upfront, Vedat Muriqi — Kosovo's all-time top scorer with 32 goals in 67 caps — has been in red-hot form for Mallorca. The 31-year-old's 13 non-penalty goals in La Liga for Mallorca this season is only bettered by Kylian Mbappe (15) in Spain and eight other players across Europe's top five leagues. When Edin Dzeko made his international debut in 2007, Arsenal and Italy's Riccardo Calafiori was five years old. But the pair will be in direct competition tonight as one of the grand old men of European football tries to reach the World Cup finals at the age of 40. After a long spell at Manchester City, Dzeko spent much of the latter part if his career in Italy with Roma, Inter Milan and Fiorentina, and now the veteran Schalke striker needs to upset the odds to help deny the country a World Cup spot and take Bosnia to the finals. Keeping a close eye on the action in Prague this evening. Denmark's prize if they can beat Czech Republic? Going to a World Cup being co-hosted by a nation that has threatened to take Greenland — a self-governing territory within Denmark — by force, before President Donald Trump dialled down the rhetoric. The U. S. President wants the “big piece of ice”, as he puts it, for U. S. security, saying he’ll get it “one way or the other” eventually. U. S. aggression has brought Denmark closer to another NATO ally and fellow tournament co-hosts Canada. Fortunately for the Danes — who will face another of the co-hosts, Mexico, as well as South Korea and South Africa if they make it — American hospitality would only be needed for one group game, in Atlanta, with the other two on Mexican soil. But lets not get ahead of ourselves.