"An Unprecedented Tragedy" failed to qualify for the World Cup, and 3 times in a row was humiliated... 'World shock' Italy failed to make it to the finals again

*This content was translated by AI.

It is an unprecedented tragedy. Italy, which has won four World Cups, has suffered an unprecedented disaster of failing to advance to the World Cup finals for three consecutive times.

Italy bowed its head after losing to Bosnia after a penalty shootout in the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup European regional playoff pass-A final in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 1st (Korea time).

This shocked soccer fans around the world by missing tickets to the finals until the 2026 tournament, following Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

It's a humiliating record. Italy is the first country in soccer history to win the World Cup in three consecutive tournaments. Italian soccer, which won the 2006 World Cup in Germany, has now suffered a humiliation of being pushed to the periphery of world soccer for 12 years.

On the same day, Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso went all out, operating the best members such as Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), and Mois Keane (AFC Fiorentina).

The first goal was also Italy's. In the 15th minute of the first half, opposing goalkeeper Nikola Vasili made a fatal pass mistake, and Keane, who was connected by Varella who stole it, shook the net with an elaborate right-footed shot from outside the penalty box.

However, in the 40th minute of the first half, an unexpected bad news from Red Card reversed the game. Defender Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan) committed a rough foul in the process of stopping Bosnia's Amar Memmich, who was breaking through with the goal alone, and the referee immediately took out the red card. Italy, which was underdog in numbers, has been suffering from Bosnia's strong offensive since then and has had to play urgently in defense.

Italy endured the crisis with a brilliant save from goalkeeper Donnarumma, but allowed a run in the 34th minute of the second half. Edin Zeko connected Amar Dedich's sharp cross with a header, and Donnarumma hit it, but Haris Tabakovic, who was at the gate, calmly pushed the second ball to square one.

In the end, the game went through extra time and led to a penalty shootout. Italy, where 10 players fought, prevented overtime runs despite physical limitations, but failed to score an extra point in the end.

Italy's kickers, Pio Esposito (Inter Milan) and Brian Cristante (AS Roma), failed to overcome psychological pressure and missed one after another. On the other hand, Bosnia confirmed its second World Cup qualification, with all kickers, including Benjamin Tahirovich, Tabakovich, Kerim Alabegovic, and Esmir Byraktarevic, scoring.

Italy's downfall is on record. Since the dark period of failing to advance to the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and failing to advance to the group stage at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Italy has not been able to make the World Cup finals for as many as 12 years. Bosnia, on the other hand, will compete in Group B with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland this summer.

Meanwhile, the main characters of the finals are being determined one after another in other playoff passes in Europe. In Pass B, Sweden beat Poland and headed to the World Cup finals thanks to Victor Jockeres' winning goal. In Pass C, Turkiye beat Kosovo 1-0 and succeeded in heading to North Korea and Central America. In Pass D, the Czech Republic beat Denmark after a penalty shootout to meet the South Korean national soccer team in the World Cup finals.

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*This content was translated by AI.