Italy miss out on World Cup for third straight time after shootout loss to Bosnia

Italy will miss out on a third straight World Cup after falling to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Tuesday’s (Mar 31) breathless qualification play-off final, the Azzurri blowing their chance to reach this summer’s tournament in North America with a 4-1 penalty shoot-out defeat.

Esmir Bajraktarevic shot the winning spot-kick in Zenica, where the Bosnians booked a place in Group B and matches against co-hosts Canada, Switzerland and Qatar, and plunged Italy into a new nightmare.

Four-time world champions, Italy took the lead through Moise Kean in the 15th minute, but then folded under the weight of expectation at the Bilino Polje Stadium after having to play most of the match with 10 men.

Italy were already firmly on the back foot when Alessandro Bastoni was sent off for chopping down Amar Memic four minutes before half-time, and Haris Tabakovic poked home Bosnia’s deserved leveller in the 79th minute to take the match to extra time.

And the horror show continued in the subsequent shoot-out, with Pio Esposito smashing Italy’s first penalty over the goal, and when Bryan Cristante hit the bar, and Bajraktarevic squeezed his effort under Gianluigi Donnarumma, the game was up.

“I don’t think the boys deserved to suffer such a blow, for the performance, the effort and the heart that they showed tonight … I’m proud of the boys,” said a visibly shaken Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso.

“It’s difficult to digest.”

Gattuso added that talking about his future “wasn’t important”, but Gabriele Gravina, the head of the Italian Football Federation, later told reporters he had asked Gattuso to stay on as coach and he would not be resigning from his position.

Italy are the first World Cup winners to miss three consecutive editions of the tournament, and it was also a third straight elimination in the play-offs after Sweden in 2018 and North Macedonia four years ago.

Bosnia, meanwhile, reached their second World Cup finals, and first since 2014, in front of a passionate crowd which invaded the pitch after a historic victory.

“They’re guys with character. We have guys we’re proud of,” said Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez.

“I’ve told them that we have to go to a tournament every two years.”

Some Italy players were filmed celebrating when Bosnia won their semi-final – again on penalties – against Wales, behaviour which looked even more foolish after the way Bosnia tore into their opponents.