World Cup: There’s still hope for the dozen teams relegated to playoffs

A look at the teams involved in the intercontinental and European playoffs for the 2018 World Cup in Russia:

EUROPE

Italy: The four-time world champions will be favoured to qualify no matter who they face, yet the Azzurri aren’t in top form after four discouraging results — a 3-0 loss to Spain, slim 1-0 wins over Israel and Albania, and a 1-1 draw with Macedonia.

Croatia: The Croatians faced the same hurdle before the 2014 tournament in Brazil, eliminating Iceland 2-0 on aggregate. In this campaign, Croatia was on course to qualify automatically before two poor results — a 1-0 loss in Turkey and a 1-1 draw at home to Finland. Those results cost coach Ante Cacic his job.

Switzerland: The Swiss were perfect in World Cup qualifying for more than one year: nine games, nine wins. Now coach Vladimir Petkovic must lift his players after a 2-0 loss in Portugal. The Swiss have a reputation of falling short against good opponents in elimination games. They lost to Argentina at the 2014 World Cup and Poland at Euro 2016.

Denmark: There’s a chance Denmark could face neighbour Sweden, which denied the Danes a spot in the 2016 European Championship by winning their playoff.

Greece: Reaching the playoffs was a relief after an embarrassing qualification campaign for Euro 2016, when the team was twice beaten by the Faeroe Islands and finished last in the group.

Sweden: Captain Andreas Granqvist says he’d prefer to not play Italy or rival Denmark and would rather face Croatia or Switzerland. Sweden has not beaten Italy in the last 17 years.

Ireland: This will be Ireland’s ninth time in the playoffs for a major tournament. The Irish have progressed on

three occasions, with their most high-profile failure coming against France in the playoffs for the 2010 World Cup when Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball in the buildup to the crucial goal.

Northern Ireland: After reaching the knockout stage at Euro 2016, the Northern Irish continued their rise in international soccer by finishing runner-up behind Germany in their group. They have never been to backto-back major tournaments.

INTERCONTINENTAL

Honduras vs. Australia: Both countries have been regulars in recent World Cups, with Honduras looking to make it for a third straight tournament and Australia seeking a fourth berth in a row. The Socceroos beat Syria in extra time to get here, but only after Syria hit the post with a free kick in the last moments of the second leg.

Peru vs. New Zealand: More than a 100 places separate New Zealand and Peru in the FIFA rankings. While New Zealand is at No. 113, Peru has surged to 12th as it chases a first visit to the World Cup since 1982. Peru was fifth in the tough South American qualifying group.