Italy’s World Cup Failure: Shockwaves Through Italian Football

The Italian national football team has failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup for the third consecutive tournament, leading to the resignations of head coach Gennaro Gattuso and the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina.

The failure was confirmed on March 31, 2026, following a penalty shootout defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica. Italy, a four-time World Cup winner, lost the shootout 4-1 after the match had seen the Azzurri reduced to 10 men before the first half ended.

The defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina, ranked 65th in the world, ensures Italy will miss the first-ever 48-team World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Leadership Collapse at FIGC

The sporting failure triggered a swift leadership crisis within Italian football governance. Gabriele Gravina, the 72-year-old president of the FIGC, announced his resignation on Thursday, April 2, 2026, during a meeting at the federation’s headquarters in Rome.

Gravina’s departure followed a public call for his resignation on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, made by Sport Minister Andrea Abodi. While Gravina had initially intended to wait until a board meeting the following week to decide his future, the pressure from the government and the shock of the qualification failure accelerated his exit.

The FIGC has stated that a vote to elect a new president will be conducted on June 22, 2026. Reports indicate that Giovanni Malago, the former head of the Italian National Olympic Committee and president of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics organisation committee, is among the potential candidates.

Simultaneously, head coach Gennaro Gattuso has resigned from his position following the team’s inability to secure a place in the tournament.

The ‘Third Apocalypse’

The result has been described by the Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport as the third apocalypse, reflecting the deep cultural significance of the national team in Italy. This marks the third straight edition of the World Cup that Italy has failed to enter, a stark decline for a nation that most recently won the trophy in 2006.

Italy defender Leonardo Spinazzola expressed the team’s disbelief following the match in Zenica, stating that the outcome was upsetting for the players, their families, and children who have never seen the national team compete in a World Cup.

The failure has drawn criticism from across Italian society, and politics. Ignazio La Russa, the president of the Senate, posted on X that while supporters had hoped for a different outcome, there was a deep-seated fear that the failure would happen.

Writer Roberto Saviano attributed the collapse to structural issues within the sport, citing corruption in clubs and failures in youth development and governance.

Match Details and Performance

The qualification match in Zenica was marked by instability for the Azzurri. After being reduced to 10 men in the first half, Italy entered a penalty shootout where goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was unable to stop the final Bosnian penalty. Pio Esposito missed the first penalty for Italy during the shootout.

Since their 2006 World Cup victory, Italy’s international performance has been inconsistent, with the exception of a surprise victory at the Euros in 2021 against England.