The great footballing nation of Italy, known for four World Cup wins and countless legends, risk missing out on qualification, again.
Having twice been defeated by Norway in the group stages, Italy finished second in Group I, sending them through to the play-offs. They’ve been drawn against Northern Ireland in the semi-final, and would face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-off finals should they win. While they will appear the standout favourites in the so-called ‘Path A’, the Italians have had a torrid time in World Cup qualifying for over a decade.
Gli Azzurri last appeared at the World Cup in 2014, where they were unceremoniously dumped out of the group stages.
In the 2018 qualification stage, Italy finished second behind Spain in the group stages. Back then, the play-offs were slightly different, with a second round followed by an inter-continental play-off decider between continents. However, Italy lost 1-0 on aggregate to Sweden, resulting in the nation missing the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
They didn’t have to wait long to miss out on another tournament though; Qatar 2022 qualification was even more shambolic. Again, they finished second in the group stages, progressing through to the qualification knockout stages. Having been drawn against North Macedonia, they were odds-on favourites to progress but fell to a 90+2nd winner in the semi-final. Having not missed a tournament for six decades, the Italians were absent from two on the bounce. Just to add to the saga, Italy won Euro 2020 in between the consecutive failures to qualify for the World Cup.
Fast forward to 2026 qualification and the lingering play-offs represent familiar territory for the Italians. On paper, it looked like a relatively strong qualifying performance with six wins out of eight, but the two heavy defeats to Norway were a more accurate reflection of the current state of this Italian team.
Donnarumma and Bastoni are arguably the only world class stars in the team, but it is still a stacked squad of players playing in the top 5 leagues that should be more than strong enough to qualify.
Luciano Spalletti was sacked in the summer, replaced by the firebrand Gennaro Gattuso. He’s got them scoring – 19 goals in 6 games – but the 4-1 home defeat at the hands of the Norwegians was a stark reality check.
Italy should qualify through the knock-outs, but the last two failures will serve as a lingering reminder that heritage and history mean nothing when it comes to securing a place at the World Cup.
