Tonali saves Italy's blushes, as Kosovo gets rare qualifier win

Sandro Tonali's last-gasp winner edged Italy to a 5-4 victory over Israel in 2026 World Cup qualifying on Monday, while Kosovo beat Sweden, despite Alexander Isak making his first appearance of the season.

After collapsing from leading 4-2 in the final two minutes to facing a 4-4 draw, Tonali's 91st-minute strike in the Hungarian city of Debrecen sent Italy above Israel and into the play-off spot in Group I.

New coach Gennaro Gattuso's side trails leader Norway by three points and still has a chance of taking first place to claim the group's sole direct qualifying spot, as it seeks to avoid missing out on a third-consecutive World Cup finals appearance.

"We'll take the win which was crucial for us, but we're completely nuts, nuts because we conceded some absurd goals," said Gattuso.

"We need to work on that, because we're too fragile, we concede goals too easily. The boys know that, but this is my problem to fix."

Israel, whose players donned black armbands in honor of the victims of Monday's deadly shooting at a bus stop in east Jerusalem, took an early lead through an own goal.

Moise Kean wiped out the nominal host's lead on two occasions before Italy went 4-2 ahead on 81 minutes.

A second Dor Peretz strike in the 88th minute and a clumsy Alessandro Bastoni own-goal two minutes later made it appear the four-time world champion was on course for a disastrous result.

But, Tonali's speculative effort went through a sea of legs and into the net to spark wild celebrations as the topsy-turvy encounter held one last surprise.

Israel has played its 'home' matches in Hungary since the country began its military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.

'No playing time'

Sweden's slow start to its qualifying campaign continued into matchday two, as it went down 2-0 to Kosovo in Pristina.

The Swedes now sit on just one point after a last-gasp equalizer by Slovenia condemned them to a 2-2 draw on Friday.

Goals in the first half from Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi were enough to give Kosovo just a second-ever win in World Cup qualifying.

Augsburg midfielder Rexhbecaj bundled the host ahead on 26 minutes after goalkeeper Robin Olsen saved his initial one-on-one effort.

Kosovan captain Muriqi then doubled the lead three minutes before the interval with a powerful strike from the edge of the box.

Premier League record signing Isak was sent on from the bench to try and salvage something for the Swedes inside the final 20 minutes.

The Liverpool star had a chance to halve the deficit on 85 minutes, but was stoutly denied by Kosovo keeper Arijanet Muric as the host moved second in Group B, despite finishing the match with 10 men.

"(Isak) had only done three training sessions with the team," Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson told Nordic broadcaster Viaplay.

"He had no pre-season with (his former club Newcastle), and of course no playing time," he added of the 25-year-old, who endured a turbulent transition from Tyneside to Anfield.

Switzerland, which beat Kosovo 4-0 last week, stays top of the pool following a dominant first-half display against Slovenia in Basel.

The home side ran out 3-0 winners after goals by Nico Elvedi, Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye inside the first 40 minutes.

Denmark won by the same margin in Greece, as it moved top of Group C on four points. It sits level with Scotland, which beat Belarus 2-0 in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary.

Croatia took the lead in Group L with a 4-0 home victory over neighboring Montenegro.

Kristijan Jakic opened the scoring in Zagreb, before Montenegro was reduced to 10 men when Andrija Bulatovic saw red.

Andrej Kramaric went clear at the top of the qualification goal-scoring chart with his sixth goal of the campaign on 51 minutes, before a late Edvin Kuc own goal and an Ivan Perisic strike put gloss on the result.

The 2018 World Cup runner-up leapfrogged the Czech Republic atop the table with both countries boasting 12 points, although Croatia has a match in hand.

The Faroe Islands moved to third in the group with a 1-0 win over Gibraltar.

AFP