Can Norway, led by twin stars, squeeze Italy out of the 2026 World Cup?

In the third round of Group I of the European group stage of the World Preliminary Tournament, Norway defeated Italy 3-0 at home, which was also the first time in the history of the Norwegian team to defeat Italy in nearly 25 years, which also made Italy, which has missed two World Cups, once again worry about qualifying for the World Cup. As a result, some fans asked, can Norway beat Italy in Group I of the World Preliminary European Zone to get a direct passage to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico?

According to the competition system, there are a total of 12 groups in the European zone of the World Preliminary Tournament, and the first group has been through the World Cup, while the second group and the 4 teams with better results in the UEFA Nations League form 16 teams to compete for 4 World Cup places, and the European zone has a total of 12 World Cup places.

After the three rounds of Group I of the European Zone of the World Preliminaries, Norway won all three games and ranked first with 9 points; Italy had a bye in the first two rounds, and suffered a 0-3 defeat to Norway in the third round. Group I of the European zone of the World Preliminary Tournament is mainly about who can win the group and go straight to the World Cup, and now Norway has the advantage.

Norway vs Italy, both teams:Norway is ranked 38th in the world with a total worth of 504 million euros, while Italy is ranked 9th in the world with a total worth of 728 million euros。 If Italy can't win the group, then there is a high probability that they will miss out on three consecutive World Cups, and fans may forget what Italian football is like. With a sigh, today's Italian football is like agreeing to the first division, the pace is slow, and the stars are dim. And Norway has two big stars, Haaland and Odegaard, Haaland is worth 180 million euros at the age of 24, 41 goals in 42 games for the national team, and Odegaard is worth 85 million euros at the age of 26, the two have never participated in the competition, this time Norway meets the declining Italy, Haaland + Odegaard is also eager to compete in the 2026 World Cup after the absence of Euro 2024.