Should Italy fail to secure a spot in the World Cup for the third time in a row, a disappointing goal could go down in history as part of yet another significant disappointment.
When goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and the whole Italian defensive lineup were objecting to the referee, Joshua Kimmich executed a brief corner kick which found Jamal Musiala. Musiala then capitalized on the open net to extend Germany’s advantage to 2-0 against Italy during the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal match held in Dortmund.
Germany took an early lead with a score of 3-0 at halftime before Italy mounted a comeback to secure a 3-3 tie. However, the home team still progressed with a total aggregate score of 5-4 on Sunday.
The second goal cost us dearly,” stated Italy’s coach Luciano Spalletti. “That was something we could have easily prevented. Nonetheless, they are my players, and I’ll stand behind them at all times, although some critique might be warranted.
This outcome indicates that Italy will be part of a five-team World Cup qualification group with Erling Haaland’s Norway rather than being in a four-team group where the top-ranked country is Slovakia.
Securing first place in the group guarantees automatic advancement to next year’s tournament in North America. The team finishing second enters the playoff round—the phase wherein Italy failed after losing to Sweden and North Macedonia, thus missing out on the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Italian team has won the World Cup four times, with their sole absence occurring during the 1958 tournament.
Norway started the qualifiers impressively with a 5-0 victory away against Moldova on Saturday. In the same group as Italy, Israel also began strong with a 2-1 win over Estonia.
On Tuesday, Norway will return to the field against Israel, who will host their “home” match in Debrecen, Hungary.
Italy will begin their qualification process in June, starting with a match against Norway and concluding their group stage encounters against the team spearheaded by Manchester City’s prolific forward, Erling Haaland.
“We cannot afford to fail,” stated Italy’s defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Spalletti mentioned he mocked his team during halftime.
The coach mentioned that they managed to assemble a strong second half.
Nevertheless, Italy seemed bewildered for much of both matches. They allowed two header goals resulting in a 2-1 defeat in the initial encounter, and Spalletti admitted that he made an error with his starting formation for the second leg.
There isn’t much more space left for errors now.
Donnarumma has also committed mistakes while playing for PSG.
Donnarumma has also committed several significant mistakes during his time at Paris Saint-Germain.
During a Champions League quarter-final match against Barcelona in the previous season, Donnarumma did not rush out to claim a corner kick, allowing central defender Andreas Christensen to score with a header.
Donnarumma’s uncertainty was mirrored in the semifinal second leg against Borussia Dortmund when defender Mats Hummels jumped uncontested to direct Julian Brandt’s corner kick from the left into the net — identical to how Christensen scored.
Has also faced criticism this season in the Champions League due to some errors — despite saving two penalties in a penalty shoot-out victory against Liverpool earlier this month.
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