Why Italy will not be participating at the 2026 World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Mexico City on Thursday evening, but despite the tournament’s expansion from 32 competing nations to 48, the Italy national team will not be present for the third time in a row. Here’s a reminder of why the Azzurri will not be present. 16 of the 48 World Cup slots were allocated to European nations. By order of qualification date, those European slots went to: England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Scotland, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, Turkiye and Czechia. The first 12 nations on that list qualified for the tournament directly, while Bosnia, Sweden, Turkiye and Czechia had to go through the play-off system, which is where Italy fell short. Here is a reminder of where things went wrong for the Azzurri in their World Cup qualification campaign. How Italy missed out on  2026 World Cup qualification Italy were placed into Group I of the European section of 2026 World Cup qualification along with Norway, Israel, Estonia and Moldova. In Europe, only the teams that finished top of their qualification groups qualified directly for the World Cup. Teams that finished in second had to settle for a spot in the play-off rounds. Italy picked up six victories from their eight qualification group stage matches, but fell to damning defeats at home and away against Norway in their first and final matches of the group stage. That meant that Erling Haaland and his teammates finished top with a 100% win rate and earned themselves a direct spot at the 2026 World Cup as a result. MILAN – NOVEMBER 16: Pio Esposito attempts to separate a confrontation between Gianluca Mancini of Italy and Erling Haaland of Norway during the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Norway at San Siro Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Milan. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)Italy ended up finishing second, which meant that they would have to win another two matches in the play-offs in order to qualify. Italy were drawn against underdogs Northern Ireland in their play-off semi-final, and despite a slightly nervous start to their match in Bergamo, goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean handed the Azzurri a 2-0 victory. Italy then progressed to the play-off final, where they faced Bosnia and Herzegovina away from home. ZENICA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – MARCH 31: Ermedin Demirovic and Benjamin Tahirovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina competes for the ball with Nicolò Barella during the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-off final at Stadion Bilino Polje on March 31, 2026 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)Kean struck after a quarter of an hour to send Italy into an early lead, but a straight red card for Alessandro Bastoni on the stroke of half-time reduced the Azzurri to 10 men and turned the game, its momentum and Italy’s confidence on its head. Haris Tabakovic found the equaliser for Bosnia in the 79th minute, and with no more goals before full-time or in extra-time, the game went to a dreaded penalty shoot-out. Italy only took three penalties in the end: Bosnia scored all of their first four, while Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante missed within the first three, which gave Sergej Barbarez’s side a 4-1 victory in the shoot-out. 
Click here to read the match report in full: Bosnia 1-1 Italy (4-1 on penalties)
ZENICA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – MARCH 31: Players show their dejection during the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-off final at Stadion Bilino Polje on March 31, 2026 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)And, with that, Bosnia qualified for the World Cup for just the second time in the nation’s history, while Italy missed out for the third tournament in a row. Italy’s last appearance at the World Cup was in 2014, and astonishingly, the Nazionale has not featured in a knock-out game at the tournament since beating France to claim the trophy in the 2006 final. Italy parted company with head coach Gennaro Gattuso, head of delegation Gianluigi Buffon almost immediately after the Bosnia and Herzegovina defeat, while FIGC President Gabriele Gravina also resigned as a result of the third consecutive World Cup failure.Replacements have not yet been appointed. Elections to appoint a new President of the FIGC will take place on June 22, Giovanni Malago and Giancarlo Abete the candidates, and a new head coach of the national team will only be appointed once a new leader of the Italian FA is in place.Read More