ELIMINATÓRIAS EUROPÉIAS: A ITÁLIA FORA DA COPA DO MUNDO 2026! A AZZURRA AMARGA MAIS UMA ELMINAÇÃO

April 1, 2026·41 min·2 clips

Since winning the 2006 World Cup, Italy has played just six World Cup matches in 20 years and won only one—against England in 2014.

1. Podcast 45 Minutos, a Brazilian football podcast, analyses Italy's elimination from the 2026 World Cup qualification play-offs after a 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina followed by a penalty shootout defeat. 2. Hosts Celso and Fred are joined by Maestro Cássio Zirpoli; the show has been running since 2014 from the Northeast of Brazil. 3. The central thesis is that Italy's third consecutive World Cup absence represents an unprecedented fall for a nation that won four World Cups, hosted the 1990 tournament, and dominated European football for a decade with Serie A. 4. Italy's last World Cup match was the 2014 group-stage defeat to Uruguay at Arena das Dunas in Natal—the match famous for Luis Suárez biting Giorgio Chiellini—after which Italy missed Russia 2018, Qatar 2022, and now North America 2026. 5. The hosts calculate that since winning the 2006 World Cup, Italy has played just six World Cup matches in 20 years and won only one—against England in 2014. 6. Gazeta dello Sport Madrid correspondent Filippo Ricci posted a photo of his son Gregorio, born in 2003, wearing a Gattuso shirt with the caption 'my son will be at least 27 years old having only seen Italy play 6 World Cup matches,' illustrating the generational scale of the absence. 7. The hosts situate the fall in the context of 1990s Italian football dominance: Serie A was watched globally the way the Premier League is today, with Maradona, Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Brehme, Mattuäus, and Klinsmann all playing in Italy. 8. Celso recalls posting on Twitter after Italy's first qualifying match—a 3-0 loss to Norway—that Italy had 'already complicated their World Cup path on day one.' 9. The qualification collapse is traced through the goal difference disaster: Norway beat Moldova 11-1 while Italy managed 2-0; Norway beat Israel 5-0 while Italy beat Israel 5-4; Norway won 4-1 at San Siro to effectively end Italy's hopes before the final qualifying round. 10. In the play-off draw, Italian fans celebrated on social media when they drew Northern Ireland and Bosnia, believing those were the easiest possible opponents, but Bosnia beat Italy on home soil. 11. Only 500 tickets were allocated to Italian fans in Bosnia; the atmosphere at the compact home stadium was described as that of a 'cauldron of liberators.' 12. The match turning point was Alessandro Bastoni's 40th-minute red card for handling on the goal-line when Italy was leading 1-0; the hosts debate whether sacrificing the red card for the goal was correct given 80 minutes remained. 13. Bastoni had been widely criticised in Italy earlier in the season for simulating a foul to get an opponent sent off in an Inter vs Juventus match, adding to his negative image in this moment. 14. Italy drew 1-1 in normal time and extra time, then lost on penalties despite having Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal—two Italian kicks hit the woodwork without any Bosnia saves. 15. Turkey qualified for their third World Cup (previous appearances in 1954 and 2002) by overcoming Spain's group, with the hosts noting Turkey's passion for football is disproportionate to their two previous World Cup appearances. 16. Sweden beat Poland on penalties after a late winner off the crossbar and the goalkeeper; Poland's Lewandowski was the best player on the field according to both hosts. 17. Sweden's qualification directly affects Brazil, who tend to finish first in their group and would face Sweden or Japan in the round of 16 if they do so. 18. Czech Republic qualified with two consecutive penalty shootout wins, against Ireland and Denmark, progressing to a group with Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, and an Asian qualifier. 19. The hosts reference the parallel between Italy's dominance collapse and Brazil's own extended World Cup drought, noting Brazil has not won the tournament since 2002. 20. Football fans interested in World Cup history, European qualification drama, and the long-term decline of Italian football's competitive standing will find this episode densely analytical.

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