Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Mon 30 March 2026 20:30, UK

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World Cup play-off finals will take place on Tuesday, with Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres among those involved in clashes for four European spots at the summer’s tournament.

The Republic of Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland were all knocked out last week, with the former two nations suffering heartbreak penalty shootout defeats.

Premier League players will still be involved in Tuesday’s matches, however, with Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali and Gyokeres hoping to progress.

Bosnia and Herzegovina stand between Italy and a first World Cup appearance since 2014, while Czechia, Denmark, Kosovo, Turkey, Sweden and Poland are all set to vie for a ticket on the plane to North America.

Arsenal striker Gyokeres scored a hat-trick in Thursday’s semi-final against Ukraine, and will hope to fire his nation to qualification.

Supercomputer predicts World Cup qualification

Gyokeres was labelled world-class after his performance in the semi-final last week, with the striker almost single-handedly downing Ukraine.

The Arsenal striker has faced some criticism of late, but he turned up when his country needed him, and he may have to do so again on Tuesday.

Sweden will play Poland in the play-off final, in a game that will have an Arsenal theme to it, considering the presence of Jakub Kiwior.

The Porto centre-back went on loan before him and Gyokeres played together, but they would have spent considerable time in training.

Opta‘s supercomputer has handed Sweden a 40.9 per cent chance of progressing in Stockholm, while Poland will be the underdogs at 32.4 per cent.

Italy have also been backed to go to the World Cup, with a huge 59.6 per cent chance of beating Bosnia in Zenica.

The other favourites are Turkey (48.8 per cent) and Denmark (42.1 per cent), although anything can happen in a final.

What World Cup groups will winning nations enter?

Should Italy emerge victorious on Tuesday, they will enter World Cup group B alongside host nation Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.

Sweden or Poland will go into group F alongside the Netherlands, Japan, and Tunisia, while Kosovo or Turkey will go into group D with another host, the United States, Paraguay and Australia.

Finally, Czechia or Denmark will go into group A along with the third and final hosts, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.

Tuesday will also see DR Conho and Jamaica play for a place in group K, and Wednesday will see Iraq and Bolivia play for a place in group I.