Italy fail to qualify for another World Cup
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 -1 Italy (Bosnia-Herzegovina won 4-1 on penalties)
Four-time world champions Italy have failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup after a crushing penalty shootout defeat by Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Author | Josh T
Stadium | Stadion Bilino Polje
No previous winner of the competition has missed three straight tournaments, with Italy also absent from Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.
Pio Esposito, who blazed over, and Bryan Cristante, whose effort struck the underside of the crossbar, missed from the spot after Gennaro Gattuso’s 10-man side had clung on under sustained Bosnian pressure to force penalties.
Bosnia-Herzegovina, led by 40-year-old captain Edin Dzeko, have now reached just the second World Cup in their history and will face Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B this summer.
It had started so well for Italy
Before the match, a lot of Italian fans and pundits had spoken about their nerves. This was clearly a huge game and a huge moment for the present and future of Italian football.
Italy went ahead when Moise Kean finished neatly from the edge of the area after Nicolo Barella capitalised on a misplaced pass from Bosnia goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj in the 15th minute.
The hosts were given renewed hope five minutes before the interval when Italy defender Alessandro Bastoni was sent off for bringing down Amar Memic as the winger raced through on goal.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was then called into action repeatedly in the second half, but he could only parry Edin Dzeko’s header from Amar Dedic’s 79th-minute cross, allowing Haris Tabakovic to convert the rebound and send the tie into extra time.
