Italy
Four-time World Cup winners; missing a third consecutive tournament after penalty exit to Bosnia.
Last refreshed: 1 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can Gravina survive the board meeting, or will Italian football need a full rebuild?
Latest on Italy
- Why did Italy miss the 2026 World Cup?
- Italy lost 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 31 March 2026, after a 1-1 draw in which Bastoni was sent off in the 41st minute.Source: Sky Sports
- How many consecutive World Cups has Italy missed?
- Three consecutive tournaments: 2018, 2022, and now 2026. No former world champion has ever matched this record.Source: Sky Sports
- Will Gabriele Gravina resign as FIGC president?
- As of 1 April 2026, Gravina refused to resign despite demands from Sports Minister Abodi and a Senate petition by Senator Lotito. A board meeting will decide his future.Source: Goal.com
- Who is Italy's World Cup manager Gennaro Gattuso?
- Gattuso is Italy's national manager, but had fewer than 15 training sessions with the squad across ten months, limiting his ability to build a cohesive team.Source: ESPN / Gabriele Marcotti
- When did Italy last appear at a World Cup?
- Italy last played at a World Cup in 2014 in Brazil. Their absence now stretches to a minimum of 16 years.
- How many World Cups has Italy won?
- Italy have won four World Cups: in 1934, 1938, 1962, and 2006.
Background
Italy missed the 2026 FIFA World Cup after losing **4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 31 March 2026**, following a 1-1 draw in which Alessandro Bastoni was sent off in the **41st minute. It is Italy's third consecutive absent tournament**, a record no former world champion has ever matched. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi immediately demanded the resignation of FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, while Senator Claudio Lotito filed a formal Senate petition for his removal. Gravina refused to stand down.
The Azzurri are four-time World Cup winners (1934, 1938, 1962, 2006). Their 2006 triumph in Germany remains their last tournament appearance. They failed to qualify for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, then exited the 2026 path through a penalty shootout for the second time running. Manager Gennaro Gattuso had fewer than 15 training sessions with the squad across ten months, exposing deep structural problems within the national setup that no individual manager can resolve.
Italy's absence now stretches to a minimum of 16 years without a World Cup appearance. The governance crisis has escalated beyond football: a sitting senator and the sports minister have made Gravina's position politically untenable. A FIGC board meeting is scheduled to decide his future. The crisis raises the prospect of FIFA intervention in Italian football administration.