Italy parted ways with manager Gennaro Gattuso on Friday, the country’s football federation (FIGC) said, after the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Italy lost their play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties on Tuesday and the four-time champions have now missed three consecutive World Cups.
Gattuso’s departure came a day after FIGC president Gabriele Gravina resigned, while the head of the national team delegation, Gianluigi Buffon, also left his position.
“With a heavy heart, having failed to achieve the goal we set for ourselves, I consider my time leading the national team to be over,” Gattuso said in a statement.
“The Azzurri shirt is the most valuable asset in football and it is therefore right to facilitate future technical reviews with immediate effect.
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“It was an honor to lead the national team, and to do so with a group of guys who have shown dedication and loyalty to the shirt.”
Gattuso was appointed on a one-year contract in June, replacing Luciano Spalletti who was sacked after Italy’s 3–0 defeat by Norway in the opening group match, although he remained in place for the 2–0 win over Moldova the following day.
Italy won their next five group matches under Gattuso, but given Norway’s much greater goal difference, they had to settle for another World Cup play-off before the final group match, which Norway won 4–1 at San Siro.
Italy had lost in the play-off stages of the last two World Cups but looked on course to make it this time after beating Northern Ireland 2-0 in the semi-final before it all fell apart in Bosnia.
Gattuso’s 10-man team squandered a 1-0 lead and crumbled in the penalty shootout.
Who after Gattuso?
Gattuso, 48, was part of the Italy squad that won the World Cup in 2006, but the country has failed to replicate that success in the sport’s biggest tournament.
FILE PHOTO: AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri and Napoli manager Antonio Conte have been named as Gattuso’s successor. | Photo credit: AFP
FILE PHOTO: AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri and Napoli manager Antonio Conte have been named as Gattuso’s successor. | Photo credit: AFP
Italy won only one match in the subsequent two editions, exiting the group stage both times. Although there was a glimmer of recovery with the victory at the 2020 Euros, the continued absence from the World Cup underlined its decline.
AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri and Napoli manager Antonio Conte have been named as Gattuso’s successor.
Conte has managed Italy, taking charge in 2014 and leading them to Euro 2016, where his last match was a penalty shootout defeat to Germany in the quarter-finals, having already announced his departure after the tournament.
Italy’s next match is a friendly against Greece on June 7, with the Nations League campaign starting in September when the country hosts Belgium.
Published on April 3, 2026
