The failed World Cup qualification and the fall of Italy are no longer a surprise

When it happened in 2018, it was an aberration. In 2022 it was a shock. When history repeated itself in 2026, it was no longer a surprise.

This debacle would be even more difficult for the expanded 48-team World Cup in North America, which in theory was intended to avoid mistakes for the elite countries. But in Italy’s latest debacle, a tragicomedy of epic proportions unfolded.

An early lead in hostile territory, followed by a red card in the first half and an equalizer in the second half, before another forty minutes before penalties followed, where two players put their efforts well beyond the target only to be dumped out of the match again.

Known as a powerhouse in world football, Italy is still in freefall from the top. It hasn’t featured in a World Cup since 2014, remembered only for its group stage exit and Luis Suarez’s incisors on Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder. It will now be 20 years since Italy’s last World Cup knockout match, when they won the title on penalties for the fourth time.

In 2018, Italy were grouped with the irresistible Spain in the qualifiers, before being undone by Sweden in the play-offs. In 2022, they failed to beat Switzerland, Northern Ireland and Bulgaria in the first round before being stunned by North Macedonia in the play-off semi-finals.

This time they were humiliated by Norway in Oslo, where Luciano Spalletti was sent off before Gennaro Gattuso, a hard-nosed Italian icon, was dropped midway through the qualifying campaign to correct course on what turned out to be a familiar path. But Gattuso had no choice but to send the Blues were humiliated by Erling Haaland and Co. at the San Siro.

After losing 0–3 to Norway, Italy ended the first qualifying round by conceding nine more goals in seven matches: four goals away against Israel and four at home against Norway, marking the first time they had conceded four or more goals at home since 1955.

Before the play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gattuso highlighted the fragility in Italy’s setup from the chaotic Spalletti era, which he needed to rectify.

«Seven months ago we were not this team. We suffered against opponents. Check out jdfb. They reached our goal easily and created chances. In the beginning we conceded ridiculous goals, we were vulnerable, we struggled to maintain our shape.»

«Maybe we didn’t play ultra-offensive football and maybe we were less brilliant, but at the moment I prefer a team that is solid, that suffers less, even if that means it is less beautiful.»

But control continued to fail Gattuso’s Italy. Against Bosnia, even before Alessandro Bastoni’s red card, Italy struggled to contain the hosts, conceding nine shots on target to the two and finishing the match with thirty attempts.

For a nation true Bolt – a watertight defensive structure – emerged, paving the way for Italy’s four World Cup victories, the new Italian defense does not exude the same sense of reassurance.

The decline in Italy’s success is also a direct reflection of Italy’s position on the continental stage of club football. No Italian club has won the Champions League – Europe’s elite club competition – since 2010, with only two teams: Juventus (2015 and 2017) and Inter Milan (2023 and 2025) reaching the final. In last season’s final, Inter was destroyed 0-5 by Paris Saint-Germain.

The only success the country has seen during this miserable decade was the European Championship win in 2021, when Roberto Mancini brought in an attacking front-foot approach to make the most of his resources. He got the best out of strikers Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne, midfielders Marco Verratti and Jorginho and the last great Italian centre-backs Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.

The current crop of midfielders do not provide the level of control in matches that Gattuso was hoping for. There are no great Italian strikers who can create magical moments out of nothing, like Alessandro del Piero or Francesco Totti. No Italian has won the Serie A golden boot since Immobile, now 36, way back in 2022.

The latest setback has been described as an «unacceptable shame», prompting resignation calls from Italian Football Federation chief Gabriele Gravina, who has held the seat of the country’s second-largest political party since 2018.

However, Gravina has paid no attention to it and says that further introspection is the need of the moment. “Italian football needs to be overhauled,” he said. «There are the leagues, there are the clubs. That’s why we need a more comprehensive overview of what needs to change.» He has also called on Gattuso to stay on to weather this latest setback.

Where Italy goes from here remains to be seen. Longtime fans of Italian football are hoping that the decline is not permanent and that a turnaround is on the way.

Published on April 1, 2026