Portugal vs Turkey, Italy vs North Macedonia live updates from World Cup qualification play-off semi-finals

38 - Italy 0-0 North Macedonia

It's all Italy at the moment. They flood bodies into the box once again and Immobile attempts a low drive while on the stretch. But it goes wide and the Italy players appeal for a handball as the it looked to have hit the hand of a North Macedonia defender. The referee awards a corner though.

30' - Italy 0-0 North Macedonia

The visitors will deem themselves fortunate. They play themselves into trouble as the goalkeeper misplaces a pass from the back. Berardi gets on the ball and he attempts to guide it in but Dimitrievski gets back in time to gather the ball. A little more power and that would've given Italy the lead.

23' - Portugal 1-0 Turkey

Best chance of the game for Turkey. They manage to get in behind Fonte before Under delivers an inviting cross into the back-post. But Kutlu's header goes wide of the post.

19' - Italy 0-0 North Macedonia

The visitors have managed to take the sting out of the game following Italy's fast start. They're enjoying a decent spell of possession without really causing Italy's defenders any problems.

15' - Portugal 1-0 Turkey

We have a breakthrough. Bernardo Silva's effort from the edge of the box is saved before striking the post. But Otavio is there to put the rebound past a helpless Cakir.

13' - Portugal 0-0 Turkey

That's a big miss. A delightful free-kick is whipped in from the right but Jota fails to convert from close-range. He opts to use his the outside of his foot and his effort goes well over.

8' - Portugal 0-0 Turkey

Portugal have settled into this one quicker but they are yet to test Çakir between the sticks for Turkey. Dalot pulls the ball back for his Manchester United team-mate Ronaldo, but he completely skies it.

3' - Italy 0-0 North Macedonia

The home side have started on the front-foot and they're flooding bodies forward. Emerson cuts in and attempts a shot with his weak foot but it goes well over the bar.

Both Portugal vs Turkey and Italy vs North Macedonia are underway. Stay tuned for all major updates!

Remember, there are two other games on tonight. Wales host Austria at the Cardiff City Stadium and Sweden take on Czech Republic.

This fortnight is hugely important for lots of Premier League players, with World Cup spots on the line and, in some cases, potentially final appearances at international level.

One of Italy or Portugal will not be at Qatar 2022, and the same goes for Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane, whose Egypt and Senegal sides meet in a play-off — a repeat of January’s Africa Cup of Nations final.

Below, The Athletic’s club writers give you the rundown of what your players are going to be up to over the next couple of weeks…

GO FURTHER

Salah vs Mane, warm weather training or playing golf: what are your club’s players up to during international break?

North Macedonia XI: Dimitrievski; Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski; Churlinov, Ademi, Bardhi, Nikolov; Ristovski, Trajkovski

Subs: Todoroski, Ashkovski, Ristevski, Babunski, Naumovski, Serafimov, Ethemi, Babunski, Spirovski, Atanasov, Siskovski, Miovski

Italy XI: Donnarumma; Florenzi, Mancini, Bastoni, Emerson; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Berardi, Immobile, Insigne.

Subs: Sirigu, De Sciglio, Chiellini, Tonali, Cristante, Pellegrini, Pedro, Pessina, Cragno, Acerbi, Politano, Raspadori

Turkey XI: Cakir, Kabak, Soyuncu, Demiral, Kutlu, Celik, Kokcu, Calhanoglu, Akturoglu, Under, Yilmaz

Subs: Altay, Sinan, Caner, Mert, Kaan, Aziz, Taylan, Dorukhan, Abdulkadir, Yusuf, Enes, Dursun

Portugal XI: Costa, Dalot, Danilo, Fonte, Guerreiro, Moutinho, Fernandes, Silva, Otavio, Jota, Ronaldo.

Subs: Patricio, Sa, Mendes, Djalo, Vitinha, Silva, Carvalho, Leao, Guedes, Nunes, Cedric, Felix

The Estadio do Dragao is prepared and ready for Portugal vs Turkey. Team news to follow shortly...

Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini says 'we need to be ourselves' and believes the heartache from four years ago will help through their clash against North Macedonia.

In yesterday's press conference, Chiellini said: “We were unlucky in the first game with Bulgaria and could’ve done better, but we dominated both matches with Switzerland and didn’t take our chances to win,”

“I don’t think we need anything extraordinary to get us back to the level we saw at Wembley. We need humility, because North Macedonia are not here as a fluke, there are players we know and recognise from their club football.

“We just need to be ourselves, play our football and do it calmly, everything that allowed us to lose very few matches in the last three years.

“Those who experienced the disappointment of four years ago will also have the experience and calm to keep their emotions under control, because that was a very important lesson we learned.”

(Photo: Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

There will be several exciting qualifiers tomorrow involving African teams who are hoping to compete at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

There are five two-legged play-offs to qualify for this winter's tournament.

Read all the ins and outs surrounding the play-offs in Africa by clicking on the link below.

GO FURTHER

54 teams into the final five: Why qualifying for World Cup from Africa is so hard

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is waiting.

Fifteen teams have booked their place. Forty-eight teams can join them. But only 17 spots remain — and all but three will be settled in the next week and a half.

On March 29 alone, we will discover 11 of the participating teams as the qualification process of four confederations reach their end.

Click on the link below to read all the World Cup qualification stipulations.

GO FURTHER

Explained: The World Cup places available in March international window

A World Cup without Ronaldo would feel odd but it may be something that we have to get used to.

The Manchester United forward has issued a rallying cry to his team-mates ahead of tonight's home match with Turkey.

He wrote on Instagram: "It's no secret to anyone: representing my country is always a very special moment for me. Raise the name of Portugal very high, bring joy and pride to all Portuguese, show our young people that nothing is impossible! Believe in us, believe in our selection. We will do everything to correspond to your support… Force Portugal."

(Photo: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)