CHELSEA legend Gianfranco Zola is set to be a BBC pundit for a huge international clash.
Italy host Northern Ireland in the semi-final of a World Cup play-off on Thursday.
Chelsea icon Zola is set to join former Northern Ireland internationals Stuart Dallas, Stephen Craigan and 1982 World Cup hero Gerry Armstrong on the panel.
The Italian played 35 times for his country – scoring ten times.
The sole World Cup he played in was the 1994 tournament in the United States.
Similarly, the 2026 World Cup will be in North America with the USA, Canada and Mexico all hosting.
However whether Zola’s nation can qualify is another question.
On paper they are the strongest team in the play-off stage but the Italians are no strangers to missing out on a World Cup.
They have failed to qualify for the last two.
Thursday’s opponents played an important role in the Azzurri’s 2022 failure the last time the two teams met.
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Northern Ireland held Roberto Mancini’s side to a 0-0 draw in a World Cup qualifier.
This result prevented them finishing top of the group and the Italians failed to qualify.
With icon Gennaro Gattuso now in charge they will be seeking to go a step further.
Michael O’Neill‘s team will travel to Bergamo with the hope of taking one step closer to their first World Cup qualification since 1986.
The winners of the tie will face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-off final.
The game will be shown on BBC Sport NI on Thursday 26 March.
It will be available on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Northern Ireland, the BBC Sport website and BBC Three from 7pm for the 7.45pm kick-off.
