North Macedonia stunned Italy to dump the European Champions out of the World Cup, thanks to Aleksander Trajkovski late strike.
Despite Italy dictating most of the play for large parts of the opening period, there was no way through for either side in the first half.
During the hugely dominant 45 minutes, the European Champions registered 16 shots on goal, the best chance falling to Nicolo Barella. The North Macedonia goalkeeper, Stole Dimitrievski – came out wide to receive a ball and played it straight to Barella on the edge of the box, but his weak effort gave Dimitrievski time to scramble back to his goal and retrieve the ball.
Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the first half, North Macedonia showed promising signs going forward, but weren’t clinical enough in the final third.
There was not much difference in the second period, with Italy even more dominant, but with minutes to go, Trajkovski struck from 25 yards out to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma take his country to the play-off final where they will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal who beat Turkey 3-1.
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