One of soccer’s historic powers has reached a once-unfathomable low.
Four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup after getting beat in a penalty shootout with 10 men at 66th-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European playoffs on Tuesday.
Moise Kean scored early on for Italy but then Azzurri center back Alessandro Bastoni was sent off with a direct red card before the break and Bosnia substitute Haris Tabakovic equalized in the 79th to send the game into extra time at 1-1.
The defeat added more misery for Italy’s once-proud national team after being eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively, in the qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups.
“It’s too easy to say what’s working and what’s not working,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said. “The fact is that Italy has failed to qualify for three World Cups. We’re having a tough time achieving our goals, both with the national team and with our clubs.”
Bosnia won the shootout 4-1 and qualified for the first time since 2014 — its only previous appearance.
In the shootout, Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante missed their spot kicks and U.S.-born Esmir Bajraktarević converted the decisive penalty for Bosnia.
“We still don’t believe it — that we’re out and that it happened in this manner,” Italy defender Leonardo Spinazzola said. “It’s upsetting for everyone. For us, for our families, and for all the kids who have never seen Italy at a World Cup.”
In Tuesday’s other European playoff finals, Sweden, Turkey and the Czech Republic each qualified. Sweden beat Poland 3-2; Turkey beat Kosovo 1-0; and the Czechs beat Denmark in a shootout.
Italy's latest ouster means that the 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006 champions will go at least 16 years without even playing a match at soccer’s biggest event.
Italy’s World Cup struggles go back all the way to 2010 and 2014, having failed to advance from its group on both occasions. Although the Azzurri did win the European Championship in 2021.
Italy’s last World Cup knockout match was when it won the title in 2006 by beating France in a penalty shootout.
“We realize we're in a huge crisis,” Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina said.
The only other World Cup that Italy did not qualify for was in 1958.
Lost generation
An entire generation — basically anyone under 15 — has no memory of the last time Italy played in the World Cup: An elimination loss to Uruguay in 2014 in Brazil remembered for Luis Suarez’s bite of Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder.
None of Italy’s current players have participated in a World Cup finals.
The defeat will raise questions about the status of Gattuso, who took over from the fired Luciano Spalletti in June with the squad already in crisis mode following a defeat at Norway in its opening qualifier.
The Azzurri then went on a six-match winning streak before losing again to Norway in November to finish second in their group and end up in the playoffs again.
Gattuso’s Italy overcame a nervy scoreless first half to beat Northern Ireland 2-0 at home in last week’s playoff semifinals. But the Azzurri struggled even more against Bosnia inside the intimate but imposing 14,000-seat Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica, which is surrounded by apartment towers overlooking the field.
“I want to personally apologize since we didn’t make it,” Gattuso said. “Today talking about my future is not important. Today it was important to get to the World Cup.”
Mismatch on paper
On paper, it was a massive mismatch between 12th-ranked Italy and Bosnia, which is ranked 54 places below the Azzurri by FIFA.
Italy has a population of nearly 60 million. Bosnia’s is about 3.5 million.
The combined club salaries of Italy’s players total nearly 1 billion euros ($1 million). Bosnia’s total is a seventh of that.
Bajraktarević, who had the winning penalty, was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. He made his U.S. debut in a January 2024 friendly against Slovenia and then switched affiliation that August.
Gyokeres the savior for Sweden
Viktor Gyokeres has sent Sweden back to the World Cup.
The Arsenal striker scored in the 88th minute to earn the Swedes a 3-2 win over Poland, five days after netting a hat trick in the playoff semifinal victory over Ukraine.
Poland great Robert Lewandowski, at age 37, was hoping to qualify for what would likely have been his final World Cup.
Former Chelsea and West Ham coach Graham Potter was hired by Sweden last year — initially on a short-term deal — with one goal: to get the team to the World Cup. He has succeeded.
Sweden reached the quarterfinals in its last World Cup appearance, in 2018.
No dream debut for Kosovo
Turkey will be in the United States’ group at the World Cup after winning 1-0 at Kosovo to reach soccer’s biggest stage for the first time since 2002.
The hosts were hoping to qualify for the World Cup for the first time, fewer than 10 years since the national team was out of the international soccer family.
It was in May 2016 that Kosovo and Gibraltar were voted into FIFA as its 210th and 211th member federations. That was eight years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.
Kosovo had the best chance of an entertaining first half but Turkey goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır pulled off a superb one-handed save to push Fisnik Asllani’s strike onto the crossbar.
Turkey got the breakthrough eight minutes into the second half. Kerem Aktürkoğlu got finest of touches to ensure Orkun Kökçü’s cross-shot went into the far bottom corner.
Turkey joins the U.S. in Group D, along with Paraguay and Australia.
Long wait ended
The Czech Republic reached its first World Cup since 2006 with a penalty shootout victory over Denmark following a 2-2 draw.
Michal Sadilek converted the winning spotkick in the 3-1 penalty shootout success. It was the Czech Republic’s second straight victory on penalties after also prevailing on spotkicks against Ireland in the semifinal.
The Czech Republic will face co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A.
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AP Sports Writers Daniella Matar and Steve Douglas contributed to this report.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
