Buenos Aires, March 31 (NA) – The head coach of the Italian national football team, Gennaro Gattuso, had gone viral some time ago for being critical of the South American qualifiers and now he could not qualify his team for the 2026 World Cup. According to the Argentine News Agency, the 48-year-old coach, who has only one title to his name in 14 years as a manager, had called for a 'review' in protest against the six direct qualification spots and one playoff spot that CONMEBOL possesses. Finishing second in their European qualifying group, only behind Norway who had a perfect score, Italy fell 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final qualifying round of their confederation. Unable to guide the Italian national team to the upcoming World Cup, to be held in Canada, the United States, and Mexico this June, Gattuso had made questionable statements last year about how the qualifying process works in South America. On that occasion, in November 2025, Gattuso had questioned that the South American qualifying group, with ten participants, has six direct spots for the next World Cup, plus a place in the playoffs for the team that finishes seventh. 'We definitely need to review it,' the Italian strategist had ruled, who was quickly countered by Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano 'Dibu' Martínez, who stated that 'in Europe they don't know what South America is,' highlighting that it has 'other complexities' and focusing on the difference in the pitches, ensuring that on the Old Continent they are 'perfect and are wet.' Some months after his unfortunate statements, Gattuso added a new failure to his coaching career: after overcoming Northern Ireland in the playoff semifinal, he lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-1 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in regular time, and accentuated the Italian crisis: in a league where 69% of footballers are foreigners, Italy has not qualified for the last three World Cups and has not advanced past the first round of World Cup tournaments since Germany 2006. Federico Dimarco and Guglielmo Vicario celebrated having to face Bosnia In the moments after the Italian victory over the Northern Ireland team, the Italian broadcast showed Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and Inter full-back Federico Dimarco celebrating Bosnia and Herzegovina's qualification over Wales, knowing it would be their next opponent. In the video, both are seen raising their fists in celebration of the penalty shootout victory of the team captained by iconic striker Edin Dzeko, with the goalkeeper also patting his teammate on the back. IP In any case, Dimarco tried to clarify the situation shortly after, stating that he respects all clubs and national teams, that it was an 'instinctive reaction' and assuring that he did not want to be disrespectful or have 'reasons to be arrogant' since Italy had accumulated two, and now three, World Cup qualifications without making it through.
