Italy head coach Gennaro Gattuso admitted he is in deep pain after the Azzurri failed to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup.
Despite heading into the game as favourite, Italy were undone by an early red card given to Alessandro Bastoni. After holding on to a 1-1 draw in normal time, the Azzurri were eventually beaten 4-1 in the shootout, with misses from Francesco Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante sealing their fate.
Speaking after the defeat, a visibly shaken Gattuso did not hold back in his post-match assessment, shifting the focus away from his own position to the collective suffering of the squad.
Gennaro Gattuso reacts after Italy loss to Bosnia & Herzegovina. (Photo by Claudio Villa – FIGC/FIGC via Getty Images)
“I’m not interested at all in talking about my future today,” the Italy and AC Milan icon told reporters, per ESPN. “It 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’s too reductive and too immature to be talking about my future today. Here we should be talking about Italy, about the national team shirt, that it’s yet another blow even though this time we didn’t deserve it. We deserved more and that’s why my future doesn’t matter.”
The playoff final defeat means Italy will miss the 2026 World Cup in North America, adding to the scars of 2018 and 2022. It marks the first time a former World Cup winner has failed to qualify for three tournaments in a row.
Despite the huge setback, Gattuso has received the backing of Italian FA president, Gabriele Gravina.
“I have to praise Gattuso. I think he’s been a great coach. I’ve asked him to stay on in charge of these players,” Gravina confirmed.
Team delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon also echoed the sentiment that the current wound is too fresh to make long-term decisions.
The legendary shot-stopper added: “This is something that truly hurts and that means we run the risk of not thinking clearly, so I will stop there. We’ll be here until June, then we’ll see for the rest how the whole thing is tackled.”
