The word “pressure” does not adequately describe what is weighing on the Squadra Azzurra before the all-important away game on Tuesday in Bosnia-Herzegovina (8.45 p.m./DAZN). On Tuesday it’s about nothing less than defeating a curse that seems to have weighed on the football nation of Italy for twelve years. Two World Cup tournaments in a row have taken place without the four-time world champions after the Italians failed to score a single goal in both the decisive playoff for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the one for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The 0-1 defeat against North Macedonia in March 2022 in Palermo became a particularly national trauma. Nine months earlier, the Italians had become European champions.
