Northern Ireland's World Cup dream shattered by play-off defeat to Italy

Josh Magennis gestures toward the Northern Ireland supporters after his side's defeat to Italy. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Northern Ireland's World Cup dreams were ended by Italy as Michael O'Neill's young side fell to a 2-0 qualifying play-off semi-final defeat in Bergamo.

Northern Ireland battled superbly against an Italy side under immense pressure to deliver qualification after two consecutive failures to reach a tournament they have won four times, but were undone by second-half goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean.