Italy vs Bulgaria

Reigning European champions Italy play host to underperforming Bulgaria at Stadio Artemio Franchi in what should be a routine 2022 World Cup qualifying fixture for the home team.

Italy’s first international game as newly-crowned European champions sees them go up against Bulgaria they have defeated in all four previous competitive H2Hs on home soil without conceding. Since going down 2-1 away to Portugal in September 2018, ‘Gli Azzurri’ have gone unbeaten in their subsequent 34 international outings. Taking only competition action into account, Roberto Mancini’s men are undefeated in 28 consecutive fixtures (W21, D7). They look to return to the World Cup finals after failing to qualify for the 2018 edition. Before missing out on the final tournament in Russia, the Italians fell out at the group stages in 2010 and 2014, which is an added incitive for them to impress here. A hat-trick of 2-0 victories at the beginning of this World Cup qualifying campaign puts them in the driving seat in Group C.

On the other hand, the Bulgarians have started their qualifying series with a whimper rather than a bang, failing to win any of their opening three qualifiers (D1, L2), drawing a blank in the last two in a row. Indeed, a lack of firepower upfront has seen Bulgaria score a miserly average of 0.57 goals per match across their last 21 competitive outings, unsurprisingly picking up just one victory in that sequence (D8, L12). Over the past four years, the ‘Lions’ have racked up just two wins against the nations currently sitting inside FIFA’s top 50, explaining why they head into proceedings as overwhelming outsiders. Additionally, Bulgaria’s last triumph on foreign soil dates back to September 2019, as they’ve failed to win any of their previous 14 away internationals (D6, L8), including friendlies.