The Italian national team conceded two minutes into stoppage time in a 1-0 defeat to North Macedonia that means the Euro 2020 winners will not be present at the World Cup in Qatar.
Mores Stories:Ecuador, Uruguay Qualify For 2022 World Cup With Help From Brazil
The azzuries who are defending Euro champions conceded late in the play-off to seal their fate.
Aleksandar Trajkovski scored the winning goal with a low strike from outside the box.
It’s just so difficult to explain,” Italy midfielder Marco Verratti said. “It was a nightmare.
Looking around the locker room, we had the players to challenge for the tournament itself, yet here we are talking about a disaster. It’s so tough to go from hero to zero.
We experienced special times together and I will always be proud of my teammates. This is football, you need to score goals. We didn’t manage it, but we gave everything we had. It wasn’t enough.“We have to ask ourselves questions now. There’s some bad luck, but you also need to make your own luck.”
This will be Italys second World Cup miss after missing out in Russia
