Again, No World Cup for Italy

Initially, a different fate seemed to belong to Italy as they fought for the last time to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. However, in the end, past failures returned and manifested as current failures. Italy, a four-time World Cup champion, has officially become a former winner that failed to qualify for three consecutive editions.

In 2017, Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after being defeated by Sweden in a playoff. Four years ago, the Azzurri were eliminated by North Macedonia, thus failing to qualify for the 2024 World Cup in Qatar. This time, they lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 71st-ranked team in the world, on penalties 1-4 after a 1-1 draw in the 2026 World Cup Path A playoff final at the Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wednesday (1/4/2026).

When Moise Kean gave Italy the lead just 15 minutes into the match, it seemed they were destined for a different outcome than in 2017 or 2022. The fact that Italy was ahead against the hosts provided hope to the approximately 500 supporters who traveled to Zenica.

However, that hope was dashed just 25 minutes later. A harsh tackle by Alessandro Bastoni on Amar Memic, resulting in a red card, marked the beginning of difficulties for the children under Gennaro Gattuso's guidance. The hosts were able to equalize against Italy, who were playing with 10 men, and the winner had to be determined through a penalty shootout.

There has never been a tournament champion that has been absent for three consecutive editions. Italy became the first team to bear that "title" with a loss through a penalty shootout against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"This is painful, truly painful. It is painful to see the results achieved by a team that has given everything over the past few months," said Gattuso, the Italian coach, with tears in his eyes.

Italy comes with a heavy burden. The trauma of failure in the previous two editions looms over their journey. This burden becomes even heavier as they failed to qualify automatically for the tournament to be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada after finishing in second place behind Norway in the qualifying group.

To qualify for the 2026 World Cup, Italy had to make the playoffs. Their journey began smoothly with a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland in the playoff semifinals. However, that victory couldn't continue into the final.

According to Gattuso, Italy did not deserve to lose. However, in a separate interview with Italian television, RAI, Gattuso acknowledged that his team faced difficulties. They were unable to convert opportunities into goals.

After Bastoni's red card, Gattuso immediately substituted central striker Mateo Retegui with Federico Gatti to fill the vacancy in the center-back position. At halftime, he brought in right-back Marco Palestra to replace winger Matteo Politano. This clarified that his focus was on maintaining the lead.

Nevertheless, Italy was not without opportunities to attack. Gli Azzuri at least had a golden chance to double the score when Kean ran alone against the opponent's defense. Unfortunately for Italy, Kean squandered a brilliant opportunity when his shot in a one-on-one situation went over the crossbar.

Bosnia, which continued to assault Italy's defense with a player advantage, was actually unable to play efficiently. Despite taking 30 shots, more than three times the number of attempts by Italy, they could only hit the target 11 times. This number of shots only resulted in one goal from Haris Tabakovic to equalize the score.

In the penalty shootout, Bosnia emerged as the winner after their kickers successfully fulfilled their duties, namely Benjamin Tahirovic, Tabakovic, Kerim Alajbegovic, and Esmir Bajraktarevic. On the Italian side, only Sandro Tonali's shot was successful. Pio Esposito's execution resulted in the ball soaring into the air, and Bryan Cristante hit the crossbar.

"The children of Italy will see another World Cup without Italy," said winger Leonardo Spinazzola through tears, as quoted by the BBC.

"I still can't believe that we were eliminated like this after playing with 10 players. With our fighting spirit, we brought the match to a penalty shootout. We could have scored three or four goals, and this is truly a huge disappointment for everyone," he added.

When Italy triumphed over France, which was filled with stars including Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, in the final of the 2006 World Cup, a new era was supposed to begin. Through a penalty shootout in Berlin, Germany, Italy became the second country to win the World Cup for the fourth time.

However, since that success, Italy has completely failed in the main event of the World Cup as they did not advance from the group stage in 2010 and 2014. They defeated England in the Euro 2020 final, but that success seems to be an exception for a football nation that was once great on the international stage.

The foundation of Italy's success in 2006 was laid a decade earlier when the U-21 Italy team, coached by Cesare Maldini, won the European Championship three consecutive times between 1992 and 1996.

The depth of talent at that time was aided by regulations in Serie A that prohibited clubs from having more than three non-European players on the field at one time.

However, all of that changed in 1995 when the Bosman ruling significantly altered the landscape of football on the continent. The ruling led to the influx of foreign players into Serie A.

This, towards the end of the 20th century, made it difficult for young Italian players to secure playing opportunities in the first teams of top clubs in their country. "The academies in Italy do not produce enough players or players who are worthy of playing in their first teams," said European football expert, Julien Laurens.

Many Italian clubs have also failed to modernize their stadiums, which has impacted commercial revenue. Former Italy striker Alessandro Del Piero spoke to CBS before the World Cup playoffs about this issue.

"The problem? The stadium. We know you have to perform better off the field (to improve) that. The youth player development system also (needs to be better)," said Del Piero.

For Bosnia, the success of defeating Italy brings them back to the World Cup after their last appearance in Brazil in 2014. Bosnia will join Group B of the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland.

"We were initially unorganized, we did not stand in the right positions, we did not mark our opponents. That is why we conceded several counterattacks," said Bosnia Coach Sergej Barbarez.

"However, against a world-class team that defends well even with 10 players, you can see that we believed from the start," he said again. (AP)