Four years ago, there were three countries eliminated from participating in the World Cup which caused some considerable shock There was the United States, which was at least a mild shock. Then, there was Netherlands, a traditional powerhouse team that had finished in third place in the previous World Cup tournament in 2014.
But the real shock came when Italy, traditionally one of the strongest sides in the sport, was eliminated. Italy has one of the most impressive resumes of any nation in the sport. Italy had reached the World Cup Final match six times, and been crowned champions four times. That it one less than Brazil, the team with the most World Cup titles, and tied with Germany, who also have won the World Cup title four times. In addition, they have also won the Euro tournament twice. In fact, they just won the Euro tournament last year, after it was postponed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After Italy was eliminated from even participating in the 2018 World Cup, everyone assumed that there was surely going to be some kind of a shakeup. And there was. But it seemed to work. After all, the Italian side went all the way to the Euro Final, and then won it. They were champions again! The real question was whether they would follow that up by winning another World Cup in 2022.
Yet, Italy found themselves in position where they absolutely needed to win a game against North Macedonia yesterday. But that hardly seemed like it would be a serious problem or anything. Rather, it was but a mere formality.
Another failure to even qualify would be unthinkable. After all, Italy was ranked sixth in the FIFA world rankings. They were hosting North Macedonia, a team without any really impressive history in the sport, and which was ranked 67th. History was on the side of the Italians, as well. They had never lost a World Cup qualifying match at home, and that was a record that spanned some 51 games before yesterday. In those 51 games, they had accumulated 44 wins, and had scored 131 goals while conceding a total of 24 goals. They had managed 32 clean sheets in those 51 games.
So North Macedonia really had no chance. Again, this was a mere formality. At least, that was how it was supposed to be.
But this is why they play the game. You just never know.
In fairness, Italy outplayed North Macedonia. Outplayed them badly, at that. They dominated the time of possession by almost two to one. They had far more passes and far greater pass accuracy. They outshot North Maceodnia by a startling 32 to 5, with five shots on target, while North Macedonia only had two.
Somehow, though, none of Italy’s shots managed to find the back of the net. And of the two quality chances that North Macedonia had, which the stingy Italian defense allowed, one did happen to find the back of the net.
Final score: North Macedonia 1, Italy 0.
Obviously, this was not supposed to happen. This was not the result that anybody expected, much less wanted. In fact, Italian manager Roberto Mancini had said before this game that Italy’s goal was nothing short of winning the World Cup:
“Our aim is to win the World Cup," said Italy manager Roberto Mancini prior to the UEFA World Cup qualifying playoff of North Macedonia. "In order to do so, we need to win these two games. It’s only others thinking about scenario B, the negative outcome. I’m thinking only of scenario A. And let’s hope it’s A."
Now, they not only will not win the World Cup, which takes place in Qatar later this year, but they will not even play a single game in the tournament. For a second time, a World Cup will be played without Italy being in it.
Unbelievable.
Surely, there will be an even bigger shakeup this time around. This shocking defeat just happened, but already, there is talk of a purge of older players from the Italian squad. It might not end there, either.
So far, there have been no other shocking eliminations from World Cup qualifying. Some of the biggest names, traditional favorites whenever the World Cup rolls around, have already qualified. This includes, of course, Brazil, the only nation to have participated in every single World Cup tournament so far, and the most decorated team in the sport. Argentina has also qualified. So has Germany, and France, the defending champions. Spain also qualified. And so did Netherlands, helping to erase their failure to qualify for the 2018 tournament, although they surely will want to make a splash at the World Cup tournament once there.
World Cup: List of Qualified Teams for Qatar, Updated Standings, Playoff Brackets by Avi Creditor, March 23, 2022:
https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/03/23/world-cup-2022-qualifying-teams-nations-countries-qatar-playoffs
Italy out of World Cup 2022: Why elimination vs. North Macedonia is a big deal and historic failure by Kyle Bonn, March 24, 2022:
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/italy-out-world-cup-2022-north-macedonia-historic-failure/cfpfeligikp55lg01dtfnsau
The "Squadra Azzurra" are understandably coming in for a lot of criticism and mockery. I'm mostly holding off on that because like you I'm a lifelong fan of Les Bleus, and I don't need to tell you that they've had their share of failure and embarrassment over the years. In particular I'm thinking of their epic failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. To refresh your memory, France had two qualifying matches left: both at home against modest opposition, Israel and Bulgaria. They didn't even need to win either of those two games. All they had to do was not lose both. An unimpressive scoreless draw would have sufficed. Yet both times hey conceded goals shortly before the final whistle. Not surprisingly a number of players, including Éric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin (France's biggest stars at the time) never played for France again, and head coach Gérard Houllier was let go as well.
ReplyDeleteGetting back to Italy, I agree with you: there's inevitably going to be a major shakeup. It seems inconceivable that only minor tweaks will be made to the lineup. Although the Italians won the 2006 World Cup and the 2020 Euro, their pursuit of a 5th Jules Rimet trophy has actually yielded disastrous results for a decade and a half. They failed to get past the first round in 2010 and 2014, and have now failed to even qualify for the two subsequent ones. Heads are going to roll.
Agreed, it seems that at least for now, Italy has become the picture of inconsistency. But like you, I remember France failing to qualify in 1994 (and 1990, no?), as well as having had miserable World Cup tournaments after the two times they qualified for the World Cup Final Match. They had a historically bad title defense in 2002, and then were literally likely the joke of the entire World Cup tournament in 2010. Let's hope that they avoid anything similar in 2022, and maybe even can repeat. But let's see. As for Italy, at some point, they will come back and strong, at that. But since I am not a big fan of them (they likely are my least favorite European side), I am hardly complaining about them failing to qualify for two straight World Cups now.
DeleteYet both times *they* conceded goals
ReplyDeleteYes, Les Bleus also failed to qualify for consecutive World Cups in the first half of the 90s. As a matter of fact, the decade preceding the 1998 World Cup was mostly disastrous for them. They failed to qualify for the 1988 Euro and the 1990 World Cup. They looked good in the qualifying round of the 1992 Euro, only to choke and make a speedy first round exit once the tournament actually started. Then came the humiliation of those two aforementioned games at the Parc des Princes in late 1993. 1996 was the beginning of a turnaround, though: they qualified for the Euro, and were only eliminated in a penalty shootout against the Czech Republic in the semifinal round. Then of course came the 1998 World Cup. A talented squad in revenge mode is a force to be reckoned with. We'll see if that applies to the Italian team in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteAs for Les Bleus' chances, they're unpredictable as you know. They're probably the only team about which one could legitimately say, "These guys might win the tournament. Or they might bow out in the first round without scoring a goal."
Germany is my least favorite team, though I too get tired of Italy. The funny thing is that if Les Bleus win this year, you could make the case that they've become one of those teams that non-fans are seriously sick of. "Christ, not these guys again." It's all relative!