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With Northern Ireland two games away from reaching the 2026 World Cup, manager Michael O’Neill has told his players not to “waste this opportunity”.

It’s certainly not a straightforward path to North America as they travel to Italy for their play-off semi-final on 26 March.

Should they upset the Azzurri, Northern Ireland will travel to either Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina five days later for a winner-takes-all final.

Italy have not qualified for a World Cup since the 2014 edition in Brazil, with Northern Ireland absent from the big dance since 1986 when it was last held in Mexico – one of the three host nations next year alongside Canada and the USA.

Although O’Neill’s side has a young age profile, he has no doubt they can rise to the play-off challenge. Despite away defeats by Germany and Slovakia in the group phase, he also feels his side showed enough on the road to suggest they can spring the surprise.

“It’s difficult to win away in international football and that is something this team still has to develop, but I take a lot of encouragement from the performances in Cologne and Slovakia where we were challenged and were missing key players in those games”, he said.

“We still gave a really good account of ourselves and were in the game in Germany for 70, 75 minutes. We were in the game in Slovakia right to the end and felt a little big aggrieved by the nature of that result.

” We have to make the game as difficult as possible for Italy and it will be difficult for them with the expectation they carry into the game.

While Northern Ireland finished third in the qualification group behind Germany and Slovakia, their Nations League performance was enough to secure a play-off berth.

However, Italy have not exactly been riding the crest of a wave of late with Gennaro Gattuso’s men finishing second in their group behind Norway, suffering a 3-0 away loss and 4-1 home hammering in their final group game.

“I suppose we would have preferred one of the other teams in Pot One, but to get to the World Cup, you’re going to have to beat two good teams”, added O’Neill.

“Italy away is going to be a massive game, a great game for us to be involved in. The expectation and pressure is very much on the Italians, so we will need to use that in our favour.

” I know they’ve lost home and away to Norway and the bulk of their squad is based in Serie A. Gattuso is their manager, so you will expect them not to be lacking in passion.

“We have four months to prepare for this and look at Italy in close detail, so the work will start today and tomorrow”.

That Italy could miss out on a third straight World Cup almost defies belief, considering they have won the competition four times in their history.

However, their failure to reach the 2018 tournament in Russia and Qatar 2022 both came as a result of play-off defeats.

That may give Northern Ireland hope, but O’Neill insisted his team must get their own house in order for their semi-final tie.

“The Italian team of now is not going to be the Italian team of eight years ago”, he countered.

“Not all their players are going to carry the burden of having been unsuccessful in play-off games. As a nation, they carry that burden, and the expectation of their crowd will be that they go to a World Cup.

Sale co-owner Michelle Orange says the proposed new R360 competition risks killing off club rugby around the world if it gets off the ground.

R360, fronted by former England centre Mike Tindall, aims to launch in October, after a recruitment drive to sign star names for eight men’s teams and four women’s teams who will compete on an F1-style circuit of events in major world cities.

However, Orange says she and fellow owners would withdraw from rugby rather than become R360 feeder clubs.

“We’re certainly not going to keep investing all that money into building a pathway, only for Mike Tindall every three or four years…to take the cream off the top of the milk again.

“I’m not saying the Curry boys [Sale and England flankers Tom and Ben] are going to 360 – I’m just using them as an example – but if they went, by the time they retire, Mike Tindall’s going to need to replace them and keep expecting me to replace them within my squad.

“Most clubs are being supported by wealthy individuals who love the sport, want to do their bit for the sport, but certainly aren’t that stupid to keep putting money in to creating a conveyor belt that’s going to fund R360 and get no compensation for it.”

R360’s organisers claim it will soon turn a profit, by drawing in fans who watch Test rugby but don’t follow the current club game, as well as attracting new audiences.

It views its recruitment of overseas stars as no different from the sort of policy pursued by Japan’s top-tier clubs.

All Blacks fly-half Richie Mo’unga and South Africa’s two-time world player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit are among those attracted to Japan Rugby League One by high wages and low workloads.

However, publicly at least, R360 is yet to make significant headway in building its roster.

Eight leading Test nations have issued a blanket ban on R360 recruits representing their national teams, wrecking hopes the rebel tournament had of allowing its players to combine the venture with international careers.

World Rugby is also yet to sanction R360 after asking for more information about the start-up’s plans.

Tom Curry, speaking in September, reaffirmed his own commitment to Sale.

“The investment from Simon and Michelle [Orange] and Ged Mason, we’re in a very fortunate position where we are in Manchester,” he said. “Nothing would get me away from that.”

England’s top flight has been optimistic that it can slowly move away from individual benefactors covering losses from their own pockets.

Orange says the impact of R360 would be most keenly felt in the women’s game however, with England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), which hosts big-name talent from around the world, particularly vulnerable.

“I think it would absolutely kill the women’s game off,” Orange added.

“I completely understand why any international player would want to join R360. When you look at what these girls are earning as wages now, it’s still paltry compared to what the men get.

“And we’re not going to be in a position for several years to even start thinking about those wages going up dramatically – just because there’s not the money in the game.

“I don’t want to ever deprive an athlete from going to earn better money for themselves, they deserve it.

“But Mike Tindall is going to need a minimum of 120 to 140 players to join his league to make it successful for the four female franchises.

“If you take 140 girls out of the PWR , it would decimate us.

It has been speculated that rugby league duo Zac Lomax and Ryan Papenhuyzen are destined for R360, after the pair walked away from unfulfilled NRL contracts with Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm respectively.

“I feel sorry for Zac, I feel sorry for Ryan Papenhuyzen, I think they’re being ill-advised and they’re jeopardising their whole careers on wild promises,” said Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys earlier this week.

“What I would be strongly recommending to them is to get irrevocable bank guarantees that they will actually get paid.

“Anyone can make wild promises. Nobody has done any due diligence on any business model.”

Sale co-owner Michelle Orange says the proposed new R360 competition risks killing off club rugby around the world if it gets off the ground.

R360, fronted by former England centre Mike Tindall, aims to launch in October, after a recruitment drive to sign star names for eight men’s teams and four women’s teams who will compete on an F1-style circuit of events in major world cities.

However, Orange says she and fellow owners would withdraw from rugby rather than become R360 feeder clubs.

“We’re certainly not going to keep investing all that money into building a pathway, only for Mike Tindall every three or four years…to take the cream off the top of the milk again.

“I’m not saying the Curry boys [Sale and England flankers Tom and Ben] are going to 360 – I’m just using them as an example – but if they went, by the time they retire, Mike Tindall’s going to need to replace them and keep expecting me to replace them within my squad.

“Most clubs are being supported by wealthy individuals who love the sport, want to do their bit for the sport, but certainly aren’t that stupid to keep putting money in to creating a conveyor belt that’s going to fund R360 and get no compensation for it.”

R360’s organisers claim it will soon turn a profit, by drawing in fans who watch Test rugby but don’t follow the current club game, as well as attracting new audiences.

It views its recruitment of overseas stars as no different from the sort of policy pursued by Japan’s top-tier clubs.

All Blacks fly-half Richie Mo’unga and South Africa’s two-time world player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit are among those attracted to Japan Rugby League One by high wages and low workloads.

However, publicly at least, R360 is yet to make significant headway in building its roster.

Eight leading Test nations have issued a blanket ban on R360 recruits representing their national teams, wrecking hopes the rebel tournament had of allowing its players to combine the venture with international careers.

World Rugby is also yet to sanction R360 after asking for more information about the start-up’s plans.

Tom Curry, speaking in September, reaffirmed his own commitment to Sale.

“The investment from Simon and Michelle [Orange] and Ged Mason, we’re in a very fortunate position where we are in Manchester,” he said. “Nothing would get me away from that.”

England’s top flight has been optimistic that it can slowly move away from individual benefactors covering losses from their own pockets.

Orange says the impact of R360 would be most keenly felt in the women’s game however, with England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), which hosts big-name talent from around the world, particularly vulnerable.

“I think it would absolutely kill the women’s game off,” Orange added.

“I completely understand why any international player would want to join R360. When you look at what these girls are earning as wages now, it’s still paltry compared to what the men get.

“And we’re not going to be in a position for several years to even start thinking about those wages going up dramatically – just because there’s not the money in the game.

“I don’t want to ever deprive an athlete from going to earn better money for themselves, they deserve it.

“But Mike Tindall is going to need a minimum of 120 to 140 players to join his league to make it successful for the four female franchises.

“If you take 140 girls out of the PWR , it would decimate us.

It has been speculated that rugby league duo Zac Lomax and Ryan Papenhuyzen are destined for R360, after the pair walked away from unfulfilled NRL contracts with Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm respectively.

“I feel sorry for Zac, I feel sorry for Ryan Papenhuyzen, I think they’re being ill-advised and they’re jeopardising their whole careers on wild promises,” said Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys earlier this week.

“What I would be strongly recommending to them is to get irrevocable bank guarantees that they will actually get paid.

“Anyone can make wild promises. Nobody has done any due diligence on any business model.”