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Italy’s coach Gennaro Gattuso walks off the pitch after losing in a World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Fabio Ferrari\/LaPresse via AP)<\/p>\n
Fabio Ferrari\/AP<\/p>\n
Italy’s Pio Esposito reacts after missing a penalty kick during a World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Fabio Ferrari\/LaPresse via AP)<\/p>\n
Fabio Ferrari\/AP<\/p>\n
Italy’s Marco Palestra, left, and Leonardo Spinazzola console each other after losing a penalty shootout during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026.<\/p>\n
Armin Durgut\/AP<\/p>\n
Italy players react during a penalty shootout during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026.<\/p>\n
Armin Durgut\/AP<\/p>\n
Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso gestures from the touchline during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026.<\/p>\n
Armin Durgut\/AP<\/p>\n
Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said it is not the time to talk about his future despite the Azzurri failing to qualify for a third straight World Cup.<\/p>\n
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Even if Gattuso hasn\u2019t made up his mind whether to stay or not, the Italian soccer federation gave a clear sign it would like him to remain on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Four-time World Cup winner Italy lost a penalty shootout at 66th-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European playoffs on Tuesday, after playing most of the match with 10 men.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not interested at all in talking about my future today,\u201d Gattuso said. \u201cIt hurts, it really hurts. More than hurting me, it hurts to see this group which has really given everything in these months and I think we deserved to get back what we put in and I honestly think it\u2019s too reductive and too immature to be talking about my future today.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere we should be talking about Italy, about the national team shirt, that it\u2019s yet another blow even though this time we didn\u2019t deserve it. We deserved more and that\u2019s why my future doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively, in the qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups.<\/p>\n
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Gattuso was hired last June to replace the fired Luciano Spalletti, with Italy\u2019s World Cup qualifying hopes already flagging again.<\/p>\n
He was given a contract until the end of this summer\u2019s World Cup, with an automatic renewal until 2028 if Italy reached the tournament in North America.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to praise Gattuso. I think he\u2019s been a great coach, he is a great coach, I\u2019ve asked him to stay on in charge of these players,\u201d Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina said.<\/p>\n
However, whether Gravina himself should remain is also up for debate and he said he has already called for a federation council meeting next week to evaluate matters.<\/p>\n
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Gravina has overseen two sets of disappointing World Cup qualifiers after taking charge in 2018. He replaced Carlo Tavecchio, who quit after Italy failed to reach the 2018 World Cup.<\/p>\n
There had already been calls for Gravina’s resignation but some fans see the problem as running even deeper.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel really bad, the system is rotten, the football system in Italy is rotten. Like, it\u2019s not possible. A country which is made for football and lives for football and now, like, everything is rotten,\u201d said 30-year-old Federico Barbieri, outside a bar in Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that the team has its limits but … not going to the World Cup three times in a row? Sweden, North Macedonia and Bosnia. What else can I say?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Not every Italy coach has paid for the Azzurri\u2019s failure to reach the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Gian Piero Ventura was fired after Italy lost to Sweden but his replacement, Roberto Mancini, kept his job despite Italy\u2019s shock loss to North Macedonia in 2022.<\/p>\n
That came just eight months after Mancini led the team to the European Championship title and the federation decided to stick with the coach who revitalized the national team.<\/p>\n
Mancini surprisingly resigned just over a year later \u2014 going on to become Saudi Arabia coach two weeks later \u2014 and was replaced by Spalletti.<\/p>\n
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But Spalletti, who oversaw a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, got just one World Cup qualifier in charge before he was fired, with Gattuso coming in.<\/p>\n
Tuesday’s defeat added more misery for Italy\u2019s once-proud national team, which won the World Cup four times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up with an Italy that always came in the top four at the World Cup,” said 56-year-old building contractor Roberto Silvi. “I\u2019ve seen Italy as world champion twice, and close another couple times.<\/p>\n
“I took Italy\u2019s qualifications for granted and now it seems like a nightmare to me. I don\u2019t even believe it. The Italy that misses a World Cup is outside of the world. The Italy that misses three, if they had told me, I never would have believed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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AP’s David Biller contributed from Rome.<\/p>\n
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