Overview
- Gianluca Mancini headed in from a Federico Dimarco cross in the 88th minute before Francesco Pio Esposito added a stoppage-time header from Matteo Politano’s delivery in Chisinau.
- The victory moves Italy to 18 points, three behind Norway, who beat Estonia 4-1 earlier, leaving the Azzurri needing an extraordinary goal swing when the teams meet in Milan on Sunday.
- Italy controlled possession and chance creation against a deep block, posting an xG of 2.59 to Moldova’s 0.41, while the hosts remained bottom and winless with one point.
- Coach Gennaro Gattuso praised the display and used the match to rotate the squad, noting that Moldova offered little threat as Italy limited them to almost no shots on target.
- With direct qualification highly improbable, Italy are now expected to go through the UEFA play-offs in March 2026, a single‑leg semi-final and final route that has previously tripped them in 2018 and 2022.