ZENICA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Italy lost out on making it to their third straight FIFA World Cup recently, and this signals a rut in their footballing system. The Azzurri were defeated by Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoff final via penalties, after ending the game 1-1. Italy had earlier beaten Northern Ireland 2-0 in the semifinals to secure the final berth, only to see their hopes to fizzle out.
Moise Kean gave the visitors the lead early on in the game (15′), but a red card picked up by defender Alessandro Bastoni hampered manager Gennaro Gattuso’s plans. Juventus’ Federico Gatti was brought on in the 44th minute to replace Bastoni, while striker Mateo Retegui was sacrificed for the greater good of the team.
This decision singlehandedly altered the Azzurri‘s fortunes. Retegui had not had the best of times up front till then, making just 19 touches in 44 minutes, but he promised a lot with a 100% shooting accuracy. One must also remember that he was 4th in the list of most goal contributions in this tournament (9).
Italy will have a third free summer while the FIFA World Cup is on
Bastoni, for his part, was left with no choice but to lunge into a sliding challenge and bring Amar Memic down, who was running in on goal after a measly goalkick from Gianluigi Donnarumma. This silly error indirectly reduced the Italians’ firepower in attack, with Retegui asked to make way.
The game went into the second half with Italy still on the ascendancy, but the home team sensed an advantage, and Haris Tabakovic duly punished the visitors in the 72nd minute to level the score. The Azzurri tried hard to reclaim their superiority after that, but to no avail, and saw the match go into penalties, and out of their hands. A moment of madness left them rueing a missed opportunity, and a third consecutive free summer, while the World Cup will be on.
With this, Italy also became the first previous champion to miss out on making it to the World Cup for three consecutive tournaments. The Azzurri, who won the marquee event most recently in 2006 (as well as in 1934, 1938 and 1982), have largely faltered in international tournaments recently save their exquisite victory over England in the final of the 2021 European Championships. To miss out on three World Cups in a row is nothing short of devastating for a nation proud of its footballing heritage.
Quite naturally, a lot of questions will be asked, and no one other than Gattuso will be held responsible for this slump. Still, the quality of the players on display needs to be investigated, and the hegemony of clubs failing to develop young players needs to be challenged. Against Bosnia, for example, Italy had just 35% possession and took a mere nine shots, of which three were on target. Even their passing accuracy was down to a pitiful 73%.
What lies ahead for the Azzurri?
Italy have only themselves to blame. In 2018, they were held by Sweden, while four years later, they were prevented from making it to the World Cup by North Macedonia. In 2026, Bosnia, ranked 71st, 58 spots below Italy, knocked them out. These results show that the Azzurri’s quality has significantly dropped, and that the golden days of Italian football are well and truly behind us.
Gattuso will, quite naturally, be held responsible for this defeat, and his contract may not be extended despite being handed the job only a year ago. The honourable thing would be to give him more time, as well as the directive to groom a younger generation of players. The UEFA Nations League will begin in September this year, while qualifiers for the 2028 edition of the European Championships are slated for next year.
These tournaments provide fertile ground for the ex-AC Milan head coach to experiment. Italy’s players should be held responsible, and those who failed to live up to expectations must be given the boot. Those unwilling to sacrifice everything for the country should also be relegated to footnotes of history, with nothing but brutality expected from Gattuso in this great rebuild for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
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