Italy's football team has another disgrace to deal with. The 1:4 defeat against Norway at the end of the group stage in the World Cup qualifiers is causing an irritable mood and renewed uncertainty.
17.11.2025, 14:11
17.11.2025, 14:50
SDA
Here the exuberantly celebrating Norwegians, there the Italians struggling for composure - the contrasts after the final whistle in Milan's Giuseppe Meazza stadium could not have been more stark late on Sunday evening. The rejection of their once again no longer quite so beloved favorites caused horror among the Tifosi.
Curiously, coach Gennaro Gattuso and his footballers were able to thank Jannik Sinner, as the German news agency dpa wrote in the aftermath on Sunday. Thanks to his victory at the ATP Finals in Turin, the jubilant South Tyrolean somewhat displaced the disappointed footballers from the front pages of the three most important sports papers. The really big and devastating headlines were therefore absent for the time being. "Humiliated Italy" was the headline in the "Gazzetta dello Sport" the day after the embarrassment.
"Nobody deserves an evening like this"
The crowd in Milan were less considerate, booing and jeering their own team at the final whistle. "Nobody deserved an evening like this, especially not those who came to the stadium," admitted Gattuso. Yet direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup was virtually a thing of the past even before the match began. The Italians would have had to win by nine goals to knock Norway out of first place in the group rankings.
But instead of gaining confidence for the play-offs, they suffered a similar setback to the 3-0 defeat in Norway at the start of the World Cup qualifiers. Coach Luciano Spalletti was then forced to resign. However, his successor Gattuso did not make much progress. The 1:4 was one of a list of poor performances. The hosts were dominant against Norway before the break and took the lead through Pio Esposito. In the second 45 minutes, however, the Italians went under and the Norwegians struck four times. Gattuso felt his team had been "punished too severely".
Italy will now have to play another extra round. The draw will be made on Thursday to determine who the Azzurri will play in the first knockout game in March. The fact that Sweden or North Macedonia are possible opponents, the very teams against whom Italy missed out on their 2018 and 2022 World Cup appearances in the play-offs, is unlikely to lift the mood significantly. "We'll lick our wounds," said coach Gattuso.
"It's just crass"
The Norwegians celebrated their first World Cup appearance in 28 years. "It was crazy, fantastic. For us to win like that in Italy is just amazing," said Erling Haaland, who scored his 15th and 16th goals in qualifying. With the Manchester City goalscorer at the helm, the Norwegians will not travel to the World Cup without a chance after these performances. "I can feel that this is the start of something big," said the star striker jubilantly.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken was searching for the right words. "I don't think you can experience much better evenings in life. It's just surreal." Antonio Nusa, scorer of the 1:1, also enthused: "It's more than I ever dreamed of." The astonishment is understandable. With eight wins in eight games and a goal difference of 37:5, the Norwegians managed a perfect World Cup qualification.
