Vicario: ‘Italy working on details to improve ‘ defending from set plays in 2026 World Cup qualifiers

italy-training-session-and-press-conference vicario

Italy goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario insists they have been ‘working on those details to improve’ their defending from set plays ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Estonia.

The game with Estonia kicks off at the Le Coq Arena in Tallinn at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

Tonight’s match will be available to watch live in the UK and Ireland on Amazon Prime Video. Supporters in the USA are able to tune in via DirecTV Stream, Sling TV and Tubi TV.

The Nazionale are almost guaranteed at this point to require the play-offs to reach the 2026 World Cup, as this evening Norway swept Israel aside 5-0 with an Erling Haaland hat-trick, despite the Manchester City striker missing the same penalty twice.

Vicario asks Italy to focus on themselves

“Honestly, we cannot control what the other results are, so we just need to concentrate on what we need to do, regardless of the other games. It changes absolutely nothing in our approach,” Vicario told RAI Sport.

Italy crushed Estonia 5-0 on Gennaro Gattuso’s debut last month in Bergamo, but didn’t manage to take the lead until almost the hour mark.

“In Bergamo we got off to a strong start and created many scoring opportunities, we struggled to convert, but then broke through after half-time,” continued Vicario.

“There can be many reasons why you score goals or not, but we got the victory and will hope to do so again this evening.”

Italy then squeezed past Israel 5-4 and that highlighted the consistent problem they have dealing with dead ball situations.

“Football requires great concentration now, when attacking and defending. We know that many goals are scored from set plays nowadays, so we have been working on those details to improve,” insisted the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper.

While the Nazionale are still trying to find themselves, there were definite improvements after Gattuso took over from Luciano Spalletti in July.

“Perhaps mentality is the most fundamental thing of all. The lads want to participate, stick together, and we always proved that. This is a group of good guys who care about the Nazionale, and we want to show that to everyone,” concluded Vicario.