This week there have been a number of deciding qualifiers for the World Cup starting in a few weeks in Mexico, the United States and Canada. – Sweden won 3 – 2 over Poland and secured World Cup play, Denmark lost on penalties against North Macedonia and Italy did the same in their match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
And with that, Italy is writing history with a negative sign.
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Italy have failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row, marking that their last appearance in the championship was in 2014: here are the three teams that unfortunately took the wrong path into history for the Azzurri.
Tuesday’s loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup play-off final kept Italy out of the championship for the third time in a row.
It’s another nightmare for the nation and its fans, who haven’t seen La Nazionale play in the World Cup since Brazil in 2014, while the last play-off game they played in the tournament was in 2006, when they went on to lift the coveted trophy under Marcello Lippi.
Back in 2017, when the team coached by Giampiero Ventura was knocked out in the play-offs by Sweden, it felt surreal that the Azzurri could miss out on a World Cup. Nine years later, it has become a sad habit.
Under Ventura, there were different rules, as the World Cup play-off was a double-header against one team, in this case Sweden. The Azzurri lost 1-0 on aggregate.
Four years later, the play-offs were held with a semi-final and final, and in 2022, the Azzurri, coached by Roberto Mancini, lost in the semi-finals to North Macedonia. If they had qualified for the final, they would have faced Portugal away.
This time, Italy, under Gattuso, qualified for the play-off final, but once again failed to qualify for the World Cup, after losing on penalties to the team ranked 65th in the FIFA rankings.
Italy’s line-ups that missed out on the World Cup
2018: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Candreva (76′ Bernardeschi), Parolo, Jorginho, Florenzi, Darmian (64′ El Shaarawy); Immobile, Gabbiadini (64′ Belotti). Coach: Ventura.
2022: Donnarumma; Florenzi, Mancini (89′ Chiellini), Bastoni, Emerson; Barella (77′ Tonali), Jorginho, Verratti; Berardi (89′ João Pedro), Immobile (77′ Pellegrini), Insigne. Coach: Mancini.
2026: Donnarumma; Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Politano (46′ Palestra), Barella (85′ Frattesi), Locatelli (71′ Cristante), Tonali, Dimarco (91′ Spinazzola); Kean (71′ Esposito), Retegui (44′ Gatti). Coach: Gattuso.
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