Despite winning Euro 2020 last year, Italy have missed out on qualifying for the World Cup for a second straight year after being beaten 1-0 by North Macedonia.
The Azzurri fired 32 shots across the 90 minutes, but it was Aleksandar Trajkovski’s low drive in the second minute of stoppage time that stunned the European champions in Palermo and set-up a qualifying final with Portugal in Porto on Tuesday for a chance to be in Qatar in November.
Roberto Mancini’s side were loudly booed off after a defeat which means Italy will have to wait until at least 2026 to see its national team at a World Cup.
By then it will have been 12 years since the Azzurri’s last participation in the world’s biggest football tournament after they failed to qualify for the 2018 edition, also crashing out in the play-offs on that occasion.
With the result, it means that Italy’s last World Cup knockout win will remain the 2006 final in which they beat France on penalties and it will be a 20-year drought by the time the 2026 World Cup final rolls around given they don’t miss out for a third time in a row.
The football world was stunned, with many perplexed at how the footballing giants could go from the toast of Europe to missing out on football’s showpiece event for the second time running.
BRILLIANT BALE BAGS DOUBLE FOR WALES
A brilliant double from Gareth Bale took Wales to the brink of a first World Cup since 1958 thanks to a 2-1 win over Austria in Cardiff on Thursday.
Robert Page’s men will face Scotland or Ukraine for a place in Qatar later this year after Bale rolled back the years to again produce his best form for his country.
Bale’s stunning free-kick and strike into the top corner either side of half-time gave the home side a two-goal advantage.
A Ben Davies own goal halved Austria’s arrears, but Wales saw out a tense final quarter to move one match away from ending the 64-year wait to reach the biggest stage in football.
Bale has been nearly a non-existent figure during the final year of his contract at Real Madrid.
The 32-year-old has played just 77 minutes at club level since the last international break in November and irked his critics in the Spanish capital by declaring himself unfit for Madrid’s 4-0 defeat to Barcelona last weekend.
But one swipe of Bale’s wand of a left foot transformed the game and set the home side on course for a famous night.
Harry Wilson was cynically hauled down on the edge of the area by Baumgartner. Bale had not scored a free-kick at international level since doing so twice at Euro 2016, but produced the perfect time to find his range with a stunning dipping effort that clipped the underside of the bar on its way past Heinz Lindner.
Austria again started the better in the second half with Marko Arnautovic heading a good opening straight at Wayne Hennessey.
However, they were again undone by a moment of Bale magic as he collected a loose ball from a corner and arrowed a shot high into the far corner for his 38th international goal in his 101st cap.
But they were made to suffer a nervy finale when Bayern Munich’s Marcel Sabitzer’s shot from outside the box deflected in off Davies 26 minutes from time.
ALL UEFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIER RESULTS
Portugal 3-1 Turkey
Wales 2-1 Austria
Italy 0-1 North Macedonia
Sweden 1-0 Czech Republic
SOURCE: FOX SPORTS