Italy to miss out on third FIFA World Cup in a row after crushing defeat

Italy will not be present at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Azzurri fans are devastated. The country will be missing out on football's biggest tournament three times in a row.

For a country that has won for men's World Cups, this is a difficult reality for the team and the fans. Italy was eliminated on penalties (4-1) against underdogs Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-off finals.

Four-time world champion Italy miss out on third World Cup in a row

Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina finished the match 1-1 in full time and Azzurri lost out to the hosts in the penalties 4-1. Bosnia and Herzegovina put on a stellar show and deserved to put the match to bed in 90 minutes. Their victory came late, but was much deserved.

However, missing out the third World Cup in a row means an entire generation of Italian players has not experienced the tournament. None of the current team players have participated in a single World Cup. The team's manager, Gennaro Gattuso said the loss was "difficult to digest".

He believes that the players deserved a better result, saying, "They surprised me even today with the heart they showed. But we are talking about the umpteenth time we aren’t going to the World Cup. I personally apologise for that."

The coach continued, "It’s too easy to say what’s working and what’s not working. The fact is that Italy has failed to qualify for three World Cups. We’re having a tough time achieving our goals, both with the national team and with our clubs."

Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina has said that they realise that there is a "huge crisis" and something needs to change soon. Italy were crowned champions in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006 and the only other year they did not qualify for the main tournament, before this dark spell, was in 1958.

The last time Italy played in the World Cup was in the 2014 edition held in Brazil, when they were eliminated after losing to Uruguay in the group stage.

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