Coach Gennaro Gattuso has left the Italy team, the FIGC (Italian Football Federation) announced this Friday (3). According to the organization, he decided to end his cycle at the head of the team, which failed in its attempt to qualify for the World Cup.
Four-time world champion, Italy will be left out of the planet’s main football tournament for the third consecutive edition. The team, which was last in the competition in 2014, lost its place on penalties, in a European play-off duel with Bosnia.
The failure led to changes in the selection structure. The president of the federation, Gabriele Gravina, and former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who had been acting as the team’s general manager, resigned from their positions on Thursday (2).
“With a heavy heart, and having failed to achieve the objective we had set, I consider my experience in charge of the national team to be over. The Azzurri shirt is the most precious thing in football, and so it is only fair to immediately facilitate future technical decisions,” said Gattuso.
“I would like to thank president Gabriele Gravina and Gianluigi Buffon, as well as the entire federation team, for the trust and support they have always given me. It was an honor to lead the national team, and to do so with a group of players who demonstrated commitment and strong attachment to the shirt”, he added.
“But my greatest gratitude goes to the fans, to all the Italians who throughout these months never stopped showing their love and support for the national team. Always with blue in their hearts”, concluded the 48-year-old coach.
Gattuso, who was the starting midfielder for Italy’s last world champion team in 2006, took charge of the national team in mid-2025 to replace Luciano Spalletti.
Having also missed out in 2018, in Russia, and in 2022, in Qatar, Italy is the first champion team to be absent from three consecutive World Cups.
