On Tuesday, March 31, the Italian national team failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament that the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada will co-host. They lost 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final qualification game after failing to qualify via the group stages.
The Italian national team’s failure to qualify for the newly expanded World Cup has been met with disbelief and disappointment by football fans across the globe. Italy, a four-time world champion, last featured in a World Cup tournament in 2014; they missed the 2018 and 2022 editions before failing once again during the playoffs against Bosnia.
Following the recent defeat, several football pundits have taken to social media to disclose various reasons why the Italian national team has failed to achieve success on the international stage in recent years. Several pundits speculated that the Italian national team has failed to embrace multiculturalism as part of their football ideology just like other heavyweights such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the two-times World Cup winners, France.
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Did Zinedine Zidane Curse the Italian National Team?
While pondering on Italy’s recent upheaval, a pundit brought up an old interview featuring French football icon, Zinedine Zidane. According to Zidane, he placed a curse on the Italian national team to never find success following the controversial moment in the 2006 World Cup final where he was sent off for headbutting Italian defender, Marco Matterazi.
In an interview seen by eelive.ng, Zidane had this to say about Italy’s third consecutive World Cup miss, “In that final, Marco Materazzi insulted my sister. I complained, but nothing was done. When I reacted, the referee sent me off, and it cost us the World Cup. My career ended with a red card, but I told them—that was the last World Cup they would win.”
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Following Italy’s victory at the 2006 World Cup tournament, they’ve been poor on the world stage. They failed to qualify from the group stages in two consecutive World Cup tournaments. In 2010, they finished last in a group that included Slovakia, New Zealand and Paraguay. Four years later, they were eliminated in the group stages alongside another heavyweight, England; the group also included Costa Rica and Uruguay.
Italy have since failed to reach the World Cup tournament.
Equally, the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament will kick off on June 11 by co-host, Mexico.
