Behind the goal where the shootout ended, Bosnia’s ultras unfurled a choreography showing a U.S. visa. The Fanaticos were going to the World Cup. Watching them from the halfway line, a rabble of Italy players turned away and tried to console one another. They cried while everyone partied around them.
“It’s a nightmare,” a tearful Leonardo Spinazzola said. “I’ve been on the national team nine years and still haven’t played at a World Cup. It’s awful. For Italy. For us.”
None of his teammates, including skipper Gianluigi Donnarumma, spoke. They were too distraught, too angry at the result and the refereeing of Clément Turpin — the same French official who had overseen Italy’s last World Cup play-off defeat to North Macedonia in 2022.
Gennaro Gattuso, visibly shaken, apologised to the 500 fans who had travelled to Zenica and to millions watching at home. “It hurts,” he said, praising his players’ spirit while lamenting two key moments: Alessandro Bastoni’s red card before half-time and Moise Kean’s missed chance to make it 2-0 with 10 men.
Moments like these explain how Italy became the first former champion to miss three consecutive World Cups. Often the failures trace back to fine margins and specific circumstances: in 2017, the FIGC and players failed to remove Gian Piero Ventura between legs of a play-off against Sweden; in 2022, Jorginho’s missed penalties against Switzerland swung qualification; in each case, details decided outcomes.
In the cramped Bilino Polje press room, Gattuso, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, and delegation chief Gigi Buffon prepared for calls for mass resignations. Buffon — who was in goal when Italy first failed to qualify nine years earlier and who had chosen Gattuso as coach — wore a pained expression. He defended continuity, saying the FIGC would not rush judgment before the season’s end.
Critics see Gravina as the common denominator of the decline, noting he didn’t quit after defeats that should have provoked systemic change: the 2017 failure to reach Russia, the 2022 play-off loss to North Macedonia, and the flat Euros exit in 2024. Gravina, however, praised the team’s performance in Zenica, echoing Gattuso’s description of them as heroic for pushing the game to penalties despite being down to 10 men.
Donnarumma had spent much of the second half of extra time arguing for a red card after a challenge on Marco Palestra. Pio Esposito, who showed courage stepping up to take Italy’s first penalty, and Bryan Cristante then missed from the spot, handing Bosnia a place at their second-ever World Cup. Gravina noted Italy had been only a couple of kicks away from qualification, a point that will ring hollow to many who demand deeper change.
Even in defeat, gestures of respect endured: Bosnia’s fans applauded the Italian national anthem before kick-off at the request of their captain, Edin Džeko, recalling Italy’s role in playing in Sarajevo soon after the Bosnian War. Asked why Italy can no longer qualify, Gattuso deferred, saying others were better placed to answer — an admission that did little to reassure a stunned public.
Italy has tried reforms before. After early exits in 2010 and 2014, Arrigo Sacchi was recruited to coach domestic coaches; more youth age groups were introduced; and CONI pushed proposals like allowing Serie A clubs to field B teams in the third division to ease the transition from youth to men’s football. Some efforts have shown results: Italy won the Under-17 Euros in 2024 and the Under-19 Euros in 2023. Players such as Francesco Camarda and Michael Kayode emerged from those squads, and Pio Esposito featured in the youth successes.
Domestic football also shows signs of health: last season Serie A entered the Champions League group stage with five teams after topping UEFA’s coefficient; club ownership is generally more stable and well-capitalised than a decade ago. Infrastructure projects tied to co-hosting Euro 2032 — including a new San Siro and stadium renovations like Florence’s Artemio Franchi — point to long-term investment.
Yet the national team’s World Cup qualification failures overshadow these positives, including the memory of Italy’s 2021 European Championship win. When Italy failed to qualify nine years ago, then-FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio called it an apocalypse. That label was never meant to become a trilogy, but with this third missed World Cup, the FIGC has produced its own grim series. The question now is whether leadership will change the story — and whether those long-term reforms will finally translate into senior-level success.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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