Italy host North Macedonia as European qualifying for the 2022 World Cup finals reaches a gripping climax over the next week. Just three spots remain for UEFA nations to reach the Qatar finals in November, with one-legged semi-finals followed by finals next week in Paths A, B and C. In path C, Euro 2020 winners Italy are favourites against North Macedonia but that counts for nothing in the pressure cooker playoffs. Make sure you know how to watch an Italy vs North Macedonia live stream from where you are.
Date: Thursday 24th March 2022
Kick off: 7:45pm GMT / 3:45pm ET
Venue: Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
Watch anywhere: Try ExpressVPN risk-free
US stream: ESPN+
UK stream: Sky Sports / Now TV
The teams are in and Italy will start with a front three of captain Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Berardi. Chelsea midfielder Jorginho starts in midfield for the European champions with Gianluca Mancini and Alessandro Bastoni starting ahead of experienced pair Giorgio Chiellini and Antonio Bonucci at centre-back.
Levante midfielder Enis Bardhi captains North Macedonia, who start with youngster Milan Ristovski up front alongside Aleksandar Trajkovski, who has scored 19 goals for his country. Ex-Leeds left-back Ezgjan Alisoki starts at left-back, but up-and-coming midfield schemer Elif Elmas misses out.
Italy have won only two of their last seven games and are in serious danger of failing to qualify for a second successive World Cup having missed out four years ago for the first time since 1958. The Azzurri contrived to draw four of their final five qualifiers to finish as Group C runners-up to Switzerland and enter the nerve-shredding playoffs.
Coach Roberto Mancini has kept faith with Ciro Immobile, Andrea Belotti and Lorenzo Insigne who performed so well last summer. Naturalised Brazilian Luiz Felipe earns a first call up in defence, where stalwarts Giorgio Chiellini and Lenardo Bonucci continue to defy their advancing years.
North Macedonia continue to ride the crest of the wave that took them to their first major tournament finals at Euro 2020 last summer. The Lions won five and drew three of their 10 Group J matches to finish runners-up to Germany, and even beat the illustrious four-time world champions 2-1 a year ago in their own back yard. Former Inter forward Goran Pandev has retired from international football, his heir apparent, Elif Elmas of Napoli, scored that famous late winner against Germany. They shouldn't be underestimated.
Either Portugal or Turkey await the winners. Italy vs North Macedonia kicks off at 7:45pm GMT tonight, Thursday, 24th March at the Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo. Follow our guide on how to watch a live stream online, on TV and on your smartphone, from wherever you are in the world.
- Watch Premier League live streams: get all the Peacock TV details
USA: Italy vs North Macedonia live stream
ESPN and ESPN+ have the rights to show Italy vs North Macedonia in the US, as well as the other World Cup qualifying games involving European teams, all FA Cup matches, and a host of other sport. All will be available in English and Spanish.
You can sign up to ESPN+, the channel's online streaming service. It costs $4.99 per month or $12.99 for a bargain along with Hulu and Disney+.
Watch a Italy vs North Macedonia live stream from abroad using a VPN
Even if you have subscribed to the relevant Italy vs North Macedonia live stream rights holders, you won't be able to access them when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. VPNs are a doddle to use and create a private connection between your device and the internet. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service such as ExpressVPN which offers a 100 per cent risk-free money back guarantee. If you're not happy with the service any time within the first 30 days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. ExpressVPN is the one we recommend.
2. Open up the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access. For Italy vs North Macedonia, you may wish to choose 'US' for ESPN+.
3. Then head over to ESPN+ on your browser or device and enjoy the Italy vs North Macedonia live stream.
UK: watch an Italy vs North Macedonia live stream
Italy vs North Macedonia will be broadcast on Sky Sports Arena in HD. Take a look at the best Sky TV deals if you're interested in signing up and watching this game and many more in top quality.
Even without a full Sky subscription, though, fans can enjoy an Italy vs North Macedonia live stream in HD with a Now TV day pass or a monthly pass. Here are the best Now TV deals live right now.
BT Sport customers can also enjoy the game so long as they're subscribed to the BT Sport Big Bundle which includes the Sky Sports channels as well as the BT ones. You can add it to your BT package for £40 per month.
Virgin Media customers are be able to watch Italy vs North Macedonia with a Sky Sports subscription through the Virgin Media’s Bigger + Sports bundle which covers all the Sky and BT televised games.
If you have a Virgin TiVo box and access to BT or Sky, you can watch on-the-go through Virgin's TV Anywhere app. And if that's not enough, there is Twitter's deal with Sky Sports to show goals and highlights via the Sky Football account.
Australian and US fans in the UK can watch the game by using a VPN to unblock their live streams on Optus Sports and ESPN+.
- Check out today's best Now deals and free passes
Canada: Italy vs North Macedonia live stream
For those in Canada, TLN – the country's first TV streaming service specialising in multicultural diverse content from Spain and Italy – have the rights to show Italy vs North Macedonia. Among the channels TLN offer are TLN TV, Univision Canada, Cinelatino, Teleniños, Mediaset Italia, TGCOM24, and Telebimbi and you can access all these and more via the VIVA Streaming TV player online.
You can even watch Italy vs Macedonia for free with a seven-day free trial for the VIVA Streaming TV player, if you sign up via their website. A subscription then costs $9.99 or $12.99 a month (plus tax) depending on the combination of channels you want.
Australia: Italy vs North Macedonia live stream
If you're in Australia, local streaming service Optus Sport will provide live coverage of the World Cup qualifiers – including Italy vs North Macedonia – for just AU$14.99 per month or AU$68 a month.
Stuck outside Oz at the moment? Don't forget that you can use a VPN to access a live stream without being blocked.
2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs, European fixtures
Thursday 24th March
Russia vs Poland (Cancelled, Poland walk-over)
Italy vs North Macedonia
Portugal vs Turkey
Scotland vs Ukraine (Postponed until June)
Sweden vs Czech Republic
Wales vs Austria
Tuesday 29th March
Poland vs Sweden/Czech Republic
Italy/North Macedonia vs Portugal/Turkey
June, date TBC
Scotland/Ukraine vs Wales/Austria
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