JUST IN: The Italian curse continues: the “azzurra” is left out of the 2026 World Cup
Sources confirm that the following story has emerged from the international scene.
Italy played more than 75 minutes betting all their chips on a penalty shootout where they believed that Gianluigi Donnarumma could make a difference, but he made a mistake and for the third consecutive World Cup they were left out of the classification. Bosnia and Herzegovina, playing at home, in the precarious field of Zenica, gave the big surprise in a European playoff where Sweden and Turkey won their places, both in regular time, and the Czech Republic also on penalties. Those led by Gennaro Gattuso took the lead after 15 minutes thanks to Fiorentina striker Moise Kean, but were then forced to hold on for the result. A harsh tackle by Alessandro Bastoni on Amar Memic, the last man launched into the attack, resulted in a red card that forced the transalpines to give up play production, while Bosnia became an offensive barrage. To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies. Accept Manage my options Haris Tabakovic equalized in the 79th, forcing an extra time that was a carbon copy of the previous two: Bosnia looking for the goal and Italy limited to defending itself without proposing a game. In the penalty shootout, only Sandro Tonali managed to score, while Pio Esposito sent it over the crossbar and Bryan Cristante’s shot crashed against the crossbar. For its part, Bosnia scored four times and became fourth in Group B, which already includes Canada, Switzerland and Qatar. The result worsens the crisis in Italian football, which has not played in a World Cup since Brazil 2014, where it was eliminated in the first round, as well as in South Africa 2010, an event it attended as defending champion. “We still can’t believe it, that we are out and that it happened this way,” Italian defender Leonardo Spinazzola told the AP agency after the game. “It is distressing for everyone. For us, for our families and for all the children who have never seen Italy in a World Cup.” No World Cup for Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski’s Poland fell short against Sweden in their attempt to achieve a third consecutive World Cup qualification, in a match that will almost certainly mark the international retirement of the legendary Barcelona striker, who will turn 38 in August. The Polish team equalized twice against the Nordics. Newcastle star Anthony Elanga opened the scoring in Solna in the 19th minute, only for Nicola Zalewski to level in the 33rd. Sweden took the lead again in the 44th, thanks to a Gustav Lagerbielke header, and remained ahead until the 55th, when Karol Swiderski scored a goal that had to go through a VAR review before being validated. There were two minutes left in regulation when Arsenal star Viktor Gyökeres scored after collecting two rebounds. The first shot was saved by goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, the second hit the post and the third finally prevented the match from going into overtime. Viktor Gyökeres greets the fans after the match against Poland, in which he scored his fourth goal of the European playoff. Solna, March 31, 2026. AP – Jonas Ekströmer Gyökeres had just shined in the semifinal played on March 26, scoring the three goals with which the Scandinavian team eliminated Ukraine. For Sweden, which had to do without its revelation Alexander Isak, but hopes to have him back in time for the World Cup, the result marks the return after the absence in Qatar 2022, and having been able to qualify only in 2002 and 2006. The Nordics will be located in Group F, along with the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia. Surprise in Prague, logic in Pristina In Prague, the Czech Republic surprised Denmark in a rugged round of penalty kicks, in which the Nordics were only able to score a goal. The Danes had to equalize twice, once in regular time and once in extra time, to make it 2-2 and force a penalty shootout. In that phase, only their captain Christian Eriksen scored, while the Czechs scored three times, the last thanks to Tomás Chorý. Czech Republic, which has not qualified since Germany 2006, will play in Group A alongside Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies. Accept Manage my options In Pristina, an Italian coach, Vincenzo Montella, who coaches Turkey, did celebrate after his team imposed logic against Kosovo and completed the World Cup return after 24 years of frustrations. Fenerbahce’s Kerem Akturkoglu scored the difference in the 52nd after a one-two with Orkun Kokcu. Arda Güler, Kenan Yildiz and company will compete in Group D with the United States, Paraguay and Australia. With EFE and AP
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Source: This article was originally published in another language by France 24 – Noticias y actualidad internacional en vivo and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.