Sensation of the Day — Italy Lost to Bosnia in a Penalty Shootout and Won't Go to the World Cup

The match took place at the "Bilino Polje" stadium in Bosnian Zenica and initially went in favor of the guests.

In the 15th minute, Italian Moise Kean opened the scoring in the match, and the advantage of the Italian national team was maintained for almost the entire regular time. True, only in terms of score, as the Bosnians actively attacked and made as many as 13 shots on the Italian goal in the first half alone. And just before halftime, Alessandro Bastoni fouled Amar Memić during one of the dangerous Bosnian attacks. The referee assessed this episode as a "last man foul" and showed Bastoni a red card. So, the Italians came out for the second half with an incomplete squad, with ten men.

Nevertheless, for most of this half, they managed to maintain their lead. Only in the 79th minute, Haris Tabaković scored an equalizer, and the score became tied.

There were no more goals from open play in this match, and in the penalty shootout, the Bosnians confidently won (with a score of 4:1).

Earlier, in the semi-final stage, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team defeated Wales (1:1, 4:2 on penalties), and the Italian team beat Northern Ireland with a score of 2:0.

Thus, Italy will miss its third consecutive World Cup. Previously, they failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and then — for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

As for the Bosnians, they will play in their second World Cup in history. Their first was the 2014 World Cup in Brazil — incidentally, that was the last time the Italian national team participated.

The 2026 World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19 in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. For the first time in history, the tournament will host as many as 48 national teams (previously it was 32).

Besides the Bosnians, three more European participants in the championship were decided today. They are the Czech national team, which defeated Denmark (2:2 in regular time, 3:1 on penalties), the Turkish national team, which overcame Kosovo with a score of 1:0, and the Swedish national team, which proved stronger than the Poles with a score of 3:2.

Now only two spots for the championship remain undecided. Their owners will be determined in the intercontinental playoff matches: Democratic Republic of Congo — Jamaica and Iraq — Bolivia. Both matches will take place on the night of April 1st.

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