Italy Face Must-Win Situation in 2026 World Cup Qualifying After Turbulent Start
ROME - Italy’s hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup hang in the balance following a disastrous qualifying campaign start adn the swift departure of manager Luciano Spalletti. the four-time World Cup champions are battling to avoid repeating the shock of failing to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, a scenario described as “apocalyptic” by some observers.
Italy’s qualifying journey began with a concerning 3-0 defeat to Norway,where Manchester City’s Erling Haaland found the net. Just two days later, Spalletti surprisingly announced his own resignation, despite subsequently overseeing a 2-0 victory against Moldova. However, Norway quickly established dominance, winning their first seven qualifiers and amassing 33 goals, including 14 from Haaland, leaving Italy playing catch-up.
The Italian Football Federation turned to Gennaro Gattuso, a former AC Milan and Italy midfielder who lifted the Champions League trophy with milan twice and the World cup with Italy in 2006. Yet, Gattuso’s managerial career has been marked by short and often unsuccessful stints, including a 23-day spell at Fiorentina, seven months at Valencia, and five months at Marseille, most recently managing Croatian club Hajduk Split.
His appointment was met with skepticism, with Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki stating on the Euro Leagues podcast, “When I heard Gattuso was in line it just seemed to demonstrate the giant collapse of Italy.” Rzouki highlighted the stark contrast between Italy’s current squad and the wealth of talent available before their 2006 World Cup triumph, referencing players like Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Francesco Totti, and Alessandro Del Piero. “Now when you look at Italy over the last few seasons, even though they won the Euros, there was just a fall – but the one thing you could rely on was that Italy created these great coaches. Yet none of these great coaches were called up or have succeeded.Spalletti did not succeed.”
According to analyst James Horncastle, the pressure is now immense on the Italian squad. “The players have had their backs against the wall after losing to Norway in June and now the approach that is being imposed on Italy by the Italian media is ‘you have to win all your remaining games and have to score lots and lots of goals’.” Horncastle also noted that Gattuso is “a more famous manager for his press conferences than the football he has put on the pitch.”
