World Cup Qualifying: Türkiye Takes Down Romania; Italy Looks To Advance

By next Tuesday, all 48 spots in the 2026 World Cup – the largest edition in tournament history – will be filled.

Until then, there's a lot of important soccer happening around the world – including a full slate of games on Thursday to see who'll be advancing in World Cup qualifying. We're recapping all the day's action.

Türkiye On Cusp; Romania Done

Reald Madrid's Arda Güler set up Ferdi Kadioglu's goal as Türkiye took another step toward advancing to the World Cup.

Türkiye now awaits the winner of Slovakia vs. Kosovo. That game will be played next Tuesday.

The winner will join the USA, Paraguay and Australia in Group D. Those matches will be played in Vancouver (vs. Australia), Santa Clara, Calif. (vs. Paraguay) and Los Angeles (vs. the USA).

Arda Guler finds Ferdi Kadioglu and hits the ball into the bottom left corner to grab a lead over Romania

Other UEFA World Cup qualifying matches

Among the other games to keep tabs on Thursday will be Italy vs. Northern Ireland in Bergamo. It's inexplicable that a country with such a rich soccer heritage and which has won four World Cup titles has not reached soccer's biggest stage since 2014. Surely Italy won't miss yet another tournament, right?

If the Azzurri are going to join the 48-team field this summer, they're going to have to win two games over the course of the week. Win that game and then Italy will face Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina for a spot in the bracket.

Intercontentinal Playoff Games

The winner of the Congo vs. New Caledonia/Jamaica match will join Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia in Group K. Matches will be played in Houston (vs. Portugal), Guadalajara (vs. Colombia) and Atlanta (vs. Uzbekistan.)

The winner of the Iraq vs. Bolivia/Suriname match will join France, Senegal and Norway in Group I. Those matches will be played in Foxborough, Mass. (vs. Norway), Philadelphia (vs. France) and Toronto (vs. Senegal).

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