Why is Northern Ireland’s World Cup play-off in Bergamo?

Italy traditionally play their international matches all around the country, and since the start of 2022 they have played in 11 different home stadiums.

The biggest games usually take place at the San Siro in Milan or the Stadio Olimpico in Rome – both of which have a capacity of more than 70,000 – but not for the World Cup play-off semi-final with Northern Ireland.

So why have the Italians selected the New Balance Arena, with a capacity of just 24,900 and where they have only played once since 2022, for their biggest game in four years?

“Bergamo and Atalanta are a good example for European football. It’s a nice venue and it’s an important venue for Italian football,” said Italian journalist Daniele Verri.

“It’s not the San Siro or the Stadio Olimpico, but it can cook.

Since winning the World Cup in 2006, Italy have had a dismal record at the World Cup.

They failed to progress out of the group stages in 2010 and 2014, and did not even qualify for the last two editions of the World Cup after play-off defeats by Sweden and North Macedonia.

All this is all the more baffling when you consider they reached were runners-up at the Euros in 2012, made the quarter-finals four years later and won the entire tournament in the delayed 2020 competition.

The New Balance Arena is home to Serie A side Atalanta, who are currently seventh in the table.

It is located in the city of Bergamo, which is about a 40-minute drive outside of Milan in the Lombardy region of the country.

The stadium was opened in 1928, and completed a five-year renovation project in 2024.

Italy played their first international there in 1964, but did not play at the ground again for another 23 years when they faced Malta in Euro 88 qualifying.

It was an even longer wait until the Azzurri’s men made their next appearance in Bergamo in a friendly draw with Turkey in November 2006.

Their 2018 play-off defeat by Sweden was in the San Siro, where they also lost to Norway in the current qualifying campaign, and they missed out on the 2022 World Cup after losing to North Macedonia in Palermo, in front of 35,000.

That win over Estonia was Gattuso’s first game as manager and Verri believes superstition may have played a role in the decision to play the game in Bergamo, where Italy are unbeaten.

“We definitely feel the need to qualify and there is pressure,” said Verri.

“We missed out on two consecutive World Cups which is a disaster for Italian football.

For Northern Ireland, playing in a smaller venue should be beneficial.

In fact, manager Michael O’Neill went as far to say he was “delighted” the game was at the New Balance Arena.

The stadium holds a similar capacity to Northern Ireland’s home ground of Windsor Park, which stands at 18,500 and also generates a passionate and vociferous atmosphere.

O’Neill pointed to the fact that the majority of his players play their club matches in stadiums between “10,000 to 25,000”, either in the Championship or in League One.

“I think we’ll feel very at home in Bergamo and we won’t be intimidated by the atmosphere at all,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Speaking after announcing his squad, O’Neill told BBC Sport NI he “can only imagine the scrutiny” that Italy are under going into the play-offs.

“For them, they’ve purposely maybe tried to take a little bit of that pressure away from themselves by playing the game of Bergamo.

“They’ve missed out in the last two World Cups, which is kind of unheard of for Italy, and there’s massive expectation and pressure on them.”

So, both sides have their own reasons for being happy with the venue choice for the play-off semi-final.

For Italy, there is tremendous pressure to qualify and, for the visitors, there will be a sense of familiarity in the stadium’s size.

Time will tell as to who it is more suited to.