Mayra Madrigal
Italy lost by a score of 0-1 to North Macedonia and was left out of the Qatar 2022 World Cup despite being the current European champion.
Having been successful in the last edition of Euro 2020, which was played in 2021, a year later because of the Covid-19 pandemic, did not guarantee Italy’s participation in the World Cup to be held in Qatar at the end of this year.
As European champions, the “Azzurri” had tried to forget the bitter pill they had to swallow in the World Cup Qualifiers for France 2018, where they did not do well and ended up missing out on the World Cup.
They ended a 53-year streak of not being European champions, and the chill atmosphere among Italians was normal. This also meant winning an international title again after winning the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Because of that, the illusion of winning the World Cup again under the guidance of coach Roberto Mancini grew and everyone was confident that they it would be that way.
Unfortunately, the situation was totally different from what people imagined, and just as it happened to Gian Piero Ventura when he was in charge of the “Azzurri” in the 2018 World Cup process, Mancini failed to qualify.
Mancini stated in November 2021: “We will book our place in the World Cup in March and hopefully win the tournament as well.”
It was very clear that words got swiped by the wind, because for the second time in a row, Italy is out of the World Cup. The most worrying thing is that they have not been able to transcend in a World Cup since they won in 2006.
It seems that Italy’s championships have some sort of curse, as after being world champions, they have suffered several setbacks. They were eliminated from the Euro 2008 in the quarterfinals, and although they reached the final in the 2012 edition held in Poland and Ukraine, they were unable to win and finished as runner-ups. For Euro 2016, held in France just like eight years earlier it failed to make it past the quarterfinals.
Regarding the World Cups of South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, which they did manage to attend, the “Azzurri” team was eliminated from the group stage on both occasions.
Fifteen years passed between the World Cup they won and the European championship they won, but it seems that nothing was learned from the mistakes they made in the past.
Where did Italy go wrong?
The failure in the World Cup qualifiers for France 2018 led to a series of changes within the Italian national team, and those changes were evident from the very beginning. Italy achieved a record of 37 matches without being defeated between March 2019 and October 2021, already under Mancini.
This could have made the team relax and think they were, apparently, unrivaled. The offensive style that allowed them to achieve positive results served as evidence, and overconfidence may have been the main mistake.
Perhaps they were also too proud, because after celebrating the European Championship title, they were unable to beat Bulgaria in their first match as champions and ended up with a 1-1 draw.
In the World Cup qualifiers for Qatar 2022, Italy was in a group that looked fairly straightforward, sharing Group C with Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania. Italy could only win four of the eight matches, drawing in the other four. Last November, they faced Switzerland and drew 1-1, in a match in which Jorginho had the luxury of missing a penalty in the final stretch of the game. If he had scored it, today the story would be different.
Italy relaxed too much and was unable to get back on track. Now, Italy will have to get back to work on its reconstruction in the hopes of doing a better job and be able to be at the next World Cup.
