World Cup qualifying reaching its climax
The lineup of teams at the World Cup in Russia will be confirmed over the next week.
Here’s a look at the two-leg European and intercontinental soccer playoffs matches:
Northern Ireland vs. Switzerland
Northern Ireland is within reach of its first World Cup in 32 years after hitting its target of second place in a group won by defending champion Germany.
Switzerland, ranked No. 4 in August, finds itself in a tense playoff despite nine straight wins to start qualifying.
On Monday, Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic was still looking back to the 2-0 loss at Portugal last month, saying he had imagined playing a “nice friendly” game this week. He acknowledged his team was too passive against Portugal, and challenged players he did not identify to take more responsibility now.
The Swiss need to forget about that match before the first leg Thursday at Windsor Park, where only Germany has beaten Northern Ireland in a competitive match in the past four years.
Switzerland has a nine-game winning streak at home in tournament qualifiers, and hosts the return on Sunday in Basel.
Croatia vs. Greece
Greece is bidding to reach a major tournament again after an embarrassing qualification campaign for the 2016 European Championship.
Without defender Kostas Manolas, who is banned from the first leg, the Greeks will play at Croatia on Thursday and then host the return match on Sunday.
Manolas is out because FIFA suspended him for trying to manipulate his disciplinary record by deliberately earning a yellow card against Cyprus on Oct. 7. The decision compounded problems for coach Michael Skibbe, who is missing midfielder Petros Mantalos and striker Tasos Donis because of injury.
Croatia is set to miss defensive midfielder Milan Badelj for both matches against Greece.
The Croatians and the Greeks were in the playoffs for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Croatia eliminated Iceland 2-0 on aggregate, while Greece beat Romania 4-2 on aggregate.
Sweden vs. Italy
Four-time champion Italy has participated in every World Cup since failing to qualify for the 1958 tournament, which coincidentally was held in Sweden.
But Italy has showed poor form recently, ever since a 3-0 loss to Spain in September. After that match, Italy edged Israel 1-0, drew 1-1 with Macedonia and beat Albania 1-0.
While Sweden didn’t qualify for the last two World Cups, it impressed in qualifying with a win over France and finished ahead of the Netherlands.
“We are winners just by being here,” Sweden coach Janne Andersson said.
The first leg will be in Sweden on Friday, with the return match on Monday in Italy.
Sweden went unbeaten at home in qualifying at Friends Arena and striker Marcus Berg scored eight times in nine matches.