Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso apologised after his side failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following a playoff defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica on Tuesday night. Italy had gone ahead through Moise Kean, but Alessandro Bastoni’s red card changed the tie before Bosnia forced penalties and won the shootout, condemning the four-time champions to a third straight World Cup absence.
An emotional Gattuso said the result was hard to accept and insisted his players did not deserve such an ending after the effort they put into the game. He also avoided turning the moment into a debate about refereeing or his own future, saying the main issue was that Italy had failed to reach the tournament.
The fallout did not stop with the coach. Italian federation president Gabriele Gravina said he had asked Gattuso to remain in charge, while also admitting the mood around the national team was obvious after another collapse on the road to the World Cup. Gravina praised the squad’s progress in recent months, but said wider evaluations would still have to follow.
Across Italy, the defeat has reopened deeper questions about the state of the national game. Reuters reported that newspapers, fans and politicians reacted with anger and disbelief, while pressure has continued to build on Gravina as Italy’s failure to qualify for another World Cup was framed as a national football crisis rather than a one-off setback.
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