Heartbreak for Azzurri as Bosnia ousts Italy in World Cup playoff final

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

Esmir Bajraktarevic shot the winning spot-kick to help the Bosnians book a place in Group B (Canada, Switzerland and Qatar). 

Gennaro Gattuso

Italy took the lead through Moise Kean (15th min), but then folded under the weight of expectation after having to play most of the match with 10 men — Alessandro Bastoni was sent off for chopping down Amar Memic four minutes before half-time. Haris Tabakovic poked home Bosnia’s deserved leveller (79th min) 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 bar, and when Bryan Cristante hit the bar and Bajraktarevic squeezed his effort under Gianluigi Donnarumma, the game was up. 

“It really hurts. On a personal level, it’s a heavy blow. But this is football, sometimes it makes you celebrate, sometimes it makes you suffer,” said Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso.  “I don’t think the boys deserved to suffer such a blow for the effort and the heart that they showed tonight,” he added.

The front page of Italy’s top daily Corriere della Sera read: “The World Cup curse,” while the headlines of the La Gazzetta ‌dello ‌Sport and Corriere dello Sport, the country’s leading sports newspapers, both said “We’re all staying at home.”

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No World Cup-winning team other than Italy have failed to qualify for three consecutive editions of the global event

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No. of shots attempted by Bosnia and Herzegovina compared to Italy’s nine in the Playoff final

Two  games that cost Italy dearly

Norway 3-0 Italy (6 Jun, 2025) – Italy got off to a horror start in their qualification campaign in Group I. Norway crushed them with goals from Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland.

Norway 4-1 Italy (16 Nov, 2025) – Italy took an early lead through Francesco Esposito, but Norway scored a flurry of goals after the hour mark through Haaland (brace), Nusa and Jorgen Larsen. The result meant  the four-time world champions had to go through the perilous Playoff phase.

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