At least one of Cristiano Ronaldo 's Portugal or Euro 2020 winners Italy will suffer World Cup heartbreak this week as their qualifying campaigns come to a head.
The two European giants face the anxious prospect of negotiating the European play-offs in order to book a spot in December's Qatar showpiece, however there will be guaranteed disappointment for one. Should the pair progress from their respective semi-finals, they will meet in a dramatic decider.
While most of the continent's elite have already secured their World Cup passage, both Portugal and Italy failed to top their qualifying groups. And it's fair to say their campaigns haven't lacked in drama.
Portugal were pipped to top spot in Group A by Serbia in sensational fashion. The pair were level on points heading into the crucial final group game which saw them pitted against each other.
The Euro 2016 winners were aware a draw with Serbia would be enough to secure World Cup qualification, and they looked to have achieved just that as Renato Sanches ' opener was cancelled out by Dusan Tadic.
Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic then scored a stunning header in the dying seconds to condemn Portugal to the play-offs and leave Ronaldo's World Cup hopes hanging perilously in the balance.
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It wasn't the first time Serbia had left the Manchester United icon feeling exasperated during the qualifying campaign either. The Portuguese talisman famously threw his armband to the turf and stormed off the pitch after controversially being denied a last-gasp winner of his own in the two nation's 2-2 draw in Belgrade back in March 2021.
As for Italy, Chelsea 's Jorginho squandered a second-half penalty in a goalless draw with Switzerland in the penultimate group game fixture and it proved costly. Roberto Mancini's men were then held by Northern Ireland in another goalless affair as the Swiss capitalised, thrashing Bulgaria 4-0 to claim top spot.
The pair have subsequently been left to battle it out in the European section of the World Cup play-offs as qualifying concludes this week. But who are the two European giants up against and what do they have to do to secure a spot in Qatar?
With Scotland's tie against Ukraine postponed and Russia expelled from the competition, the remaining four semi-finals will take place this Thursday. Four-time World Cup winners Italy host North Macedonia in Palermo, while Ronaldo's injury-hit Portugal take on Turkey in Porto.
Should the pair both progress, they will then meet in the final of their section, which takes place in Porto next Tuesday. Elsewhere Wales face Austria with the winner set to play either Scotland or Ukraine.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 's Sweden also host Czech Republic this week with the winner scheduled to face Robert Lewandowski 's Poland next Tuesday. Some big names are guaranteed to miss out on the 2022 World Cup later this year and, at 37, it could well be a case of last-chance saloon for Ronaldo in particular.
