Italy’s Recent World Cup Woes

Despite being the reigning European Champions, the Azzuri have once again failed on the world’s biggest stage. The 1-0 defeat to minnows North Macedonia – courtesy of Aleksandar Trajkovski’s 92nd-minute thunderbolt – may be their greatest failure to date. It’s arguably their most embarrassing result since North Korea came away with a remarkable 1-0 victory in 1966. The result in Palermo however, is the latest in a long line of shocks that have been handed to the Italians since they lifted the World Cup in 2006. 

South Africa 2010 – Group Stage Exit 

Four years on from Zinedine Zidane’s moment of madness and Italy’s finest hour, the FIFA World Cup was back and for the first time ever, from the continent of Africa. With Shakira’s Waka Waka being blasted from stereo’s the world over, Italy — with Marcello Lippi back at the helm after Roberto Donadoni’s disastrous reign — were back to defend their crown. 

The draw couldn’t have been much kinder to them. A group containing Slovakia, Paraguay and tournament debutants New Zealand should have been a doddle. It was anything but. 

After labouring to a 1-1 draw’s in their opening games against Paraguay and New Zealand the Azzuri had to beat Slovakia in their final game to have any chance of progressing. At their best, they would have handled business with a minimum of fuss, but Robert Vittek’s double proved too much for the Italians. Not even Fabio Quagglierrella’s goal of the tournament contender could save them from slumping to a 3-2 defeat, managing to finish fourth of four in the process.

Brazil 2014 – Group Stage Exit 

After an impressive Euro 2012 campaign two years prior, in which they defeated England and Germany en route to being beaten finalists – there was cautious optimism emanating from Rome. 

The group stage draw wasn’t as kind as four years prior, pitting them in the group of death alongside England, Uruguay and Costa Rica. But the opening stanza got off to the best possible start when the maverick Mario Balotelli headed home five minutes after halftime, handing England a 2-1 defeat in Manaus.  

That was as good as it got, however. In their next game against Costa Rica — who had beaten Uruguay six days prior — they were toothless. Fulham’s Bryan Ruiz scored the only goal, securing the top spot in Group D for the Central Americans against all odds and leaving Italy and Uruguay to battle it out for second place. 

The South Americans had more fight in them though, quite literally. Barely ten minutes after Luis Suarez had sunk his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder, centre half Diego Godin scored the all-important goal ten minutes from time. The result left them licking their wounds and facing a second first-round exit in as many tournaments. 

Russia 2018 & Qatar 2022 – Failed to Qualify 

At one point, a World Cup without Italy seemed odd. Tied for second with the most competition victories (4) and prior to 2018, qualifying for every tournament in the last 60 years, we had grown fond of the iconic Il Canto Degli Italiani bellowing throughout stadia the world over prior to a big game. That all came to an end in the autumn of 2017, at the hands of the defensively resolute Sweden. Jakob Johansson scored the only goal of the two-legged tie, as the Swedes stood tall amid an Italian second-leg onslaught. In the aftermath of the defeat, the famed newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport led with the headline “Italy, this is the apocalypse.” 

And here we are again, four years later, with an even more shocking defeat. Only this time around, the Italians are the reigning European Champions, an honour they won so impressively last summer. When captain Chiellini lifted the trophy on that glorious night at Wembley no one could have imagined that they wouldn’t even be boarding the flights to Qatar this December, but here we are. With one of the favourites dumped out before the party has even begun, and tears flowing through the streets of Rome.