Four-time world champions Italy missed a third consecutive World Cup after losing on penalties to hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoff final in Zenica on Tuesday.
With the defeat, Italy become the first former world champions to fail to participate in three consecutive World Cups, as none of the team’s current players have ever taken part.
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Moise Kean scored early for Italy, but then Azzurri centre-back Alessandro Bastoni was sent off with a straight red card before half-time and Bosnian substitute Haris Tabakovic equalized in the 79th minute.
The game then went into extra time with the score tied at 1-1 and Italy had only 10 players left, but neither team scored a goal in the 30 minutes of added time. In the shootout, Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante missed their penalties and US-born Esmir Bajraktarević scored the decisive penalty for Bosnia.
“We still don’t believe it – that we’re out and that it happened like this,” said Italy defender Leonardo Spinazzola. “It’s sad for everyone. For us, for our families and for all the children who have never seen Italy at a World Cup.”
The defeat added more heartache to Italy’s once-proud national team after they were eliminated in the qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups by Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively, and last won a knockout-round game against France in the 2006 final.
In last week’s European playoff semi-final, Italy beat Northern Ireland 2-0. Bosnia eliminated Wales on penalties.
Sweden and Türkiye qualified in the other European playoff finals on Tuesday. Sweden beat Poland 3-2 and Turkey beat Kosovo 1-0. Czech Republic also qualified after beating Denmark in a shootout.
Italy’s latest fall means the 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006 champions will not play a single game in football’s biggest event for at least 16 years.
Italy’s World Cup difficulties stretch back to 2010 and 2014, as they failed to progress from their group on both occasions. Italy won the European Championship in 2021.
The only other World Cup for which Italy failed to qualify was in 1958.
Pio Esposito reacts after missing a penalty in Italy’s penalty shootout loss to Bosnia in the World Cup playoff. Getty Images
Bosnia will take part in a second World Cup after its debut in 2014, playing in Group B at this summer’s tournament alongside co-hosts Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
Italy’s defeat will raise questions about the status of coach Gennaro Gattuso, who took over from the sacked Luciano Spalletti in June, with the team already in crisis mode after a loss to Norway in their first qualifying game.
The Azzurri then went on a six-game winning streak before losing again to Norway in November, finishing second in their group and ending up in the playoffs again.
Despite defeating Northern Ireland in Bergamo, Italy battled Bosnia in the small but imposing 14,000-seat Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica, surrounded by residential towers overlooking the pitch.
“I would like to personally apologize for not making it,” Gattuso said. “Today it’s not important to talk about my future. Today it was important to come to the World Cup.”
On paper it was a huge mismatch between 12th-placed Italy and Bosnia, 54 places lower according to FIFA.
Italy has a population of almost 60 million. Around 3.5 million people live in Bosnia.
Bajraktarević, who scored the winning goal, was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. He made his US debut in a friendly against Slovenia in January 2024 and then switched club affiliations in August.
In Tuesday’s other crucial games, Viktor Gyökeres scored an 88th-minute goal to give Sweden a 3-2 win over Poland, five days after they scored a hat trick in a playoff semifinal victory over Ukraine.
37-year-old Polish star Robert Lewandowski was hoping to qualify for what is likely to be his last World Cup.
Former Chelsea and West Ham manager Graham Potter was hired by Sweden last year – initially on a short-term contract – with one goal: getting the team to the World Cup. He succeeded.
Sweden reached the quarterfinals in its last World Cup appearance in 2018.
Türkiye will be in the United States’ group at the World Cup after winning 1-0 in Kosovo to reach soccer’s biggest stage for the first time since 2002.
Kosovo had hoped to qualify for the World Cup for the first time; it had not even been ten years since the national team no longer belonged to the international football family.
In May 2016, Kosovo and Gibraltar were elected to FIFA as the 210th and 211th member associations. That was eight years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.
Kosovo had the best chance of an entertaining first half, but Türkiye goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır made an excellent one-handed save and pushed Fisnik Asllani’s shot onto the crossbar.
Türkiye made the breakthrough eight minutes into the second half. Kerem Aktürkoğlu had the finest contact with the ball and ensured that Orkun Kökçü’s cross shot went into the far bottom corner.
Türkiye joins the USA in Group D, along with Paraguay and Australia.
The Czech Republic reached its first World Cup since 2006 with a penalty shootout win over Denmark after a 2-2 draw.
Michal Sadílek scored the decisive penalty in a 3-1 shootout win. It was the Czech Republic’s second consecutive win on penalties, having also beaten Ireland on penalties in the semi-final.
The Czech Republic will face co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A.
Information from the Associated Press and PA was used in this report.
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