For the first time in history, a world champion team will miss out on a World Cup in three consecutive editions. This Tuesday (31), Italy saw their ordeal expand when they were defeated by Bosnia on penalties. Absent from the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the four-time world champion team will also not fight for the title this year, in North America.
After 1-1 in normal time, Bosnia won on penalties 4-1 and will now enter Group B of the World Cup, alongside Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
In the last two cycles, Italy also fell in the playoffs. In 2018, they lost to Sweden. Then, in 2022, it was surprised by North Macedonia.
On the eve of the match against Bosnia, coach Gennaro Gattuso had said again that he felt the “weight of the country on his shoulders”. When the ball rolled, the Italian players seemed to deal with the same pressure. Bosnia had more initiative, with 13 shots in the first half, requiring good saves from Donnarumma.
But, in an unfortunate move by goalkeeper Vasilj, it was the visitors who opened the scoring. In the 14th minute, number 1 made a mistake with a ball, Barella recovered and served it to Kean, who hit a first-time shot to put Italy ahead.
The goal did not change the teams’ stance. Bosnia continued to be more present in attack, while the Italian team had difficulty keeping the ball. To make matters worse, in the 40th minute, defender Bastoni was sent off by French referee Clément Turpin for a foul on Memic, who had a clear chance of advancing towards the goal.
Turpin’s selection to referee the match brought back bad memories for the Italians. He was also the one who took charge of the game in which North Macedonia beat Italy 1-0 in the 2022 World Cup play-off.
Bastoni, however, did not even complain about his expulsion, as if he recognized his mistake. Immediately, Gattuso removed striker Retegui and brought on defender Gatti to rebuild the defense, already anticipating the increase in Bosnia’s pressure.
In fact, just like in the initial stage, Bosnia remained more present in the attack, but had difficulty creating clear scoring chances.
When they got tired of moving the ball around the penalty area, the Bosnians resorted to crosses into the area or long-range shots, making life easier for the Italian defenders.
Despite barely creating in the second half, Italy had two great chances to expand. The first was again with Kean. On a counterattack, he had the opportunity to shoot from midfield towards the free goal, but, face to face with the goalkeeper, he shot over the top in the 14th minute.
Then, it was Dimarco’s turn to finish with a cross, but stumbled upon a good save from Vasilj, in the 31st minute. The punishment for not killing the game came shortly after, at 33, when Tabakovic took advantage of Donnarumma’s rebound after a cross in the area and tied the match.
Under an atmosphere of apprehension for much of the second half, the Bilino Polje stadium once again displayed the hostile scenario Italy encountered upon arriving at the match stage.
Chosen for the clash, the modest stadium was not full, as its capacity of 16,000 seats was reduced to 9,000 because of FIFA’s punishment of the Bosnians, following episodes of discrimination in a game against Romania in the qualifiers.
According to the Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport, to circumvent the reduction, owners of houses overlooking the field rented spaces to some fans. During the match, many of them lit flares on their apartment balconies.
Smoke invaded the pitch after Bosnia’s goal, as they pressed to avoid extra time, but were unable to find their way to the goal again.
In extra time, the score remained as it was, taking the dispute to penalties, which ended 4-1 for Bosnia.
