Italy will miss the World Cup — again — after stunning loss to North Macedonia

On Thursday night, that Italian generation broke its promise. In one of the most stunning upsets in qualifying history, the defending European champions cost themselves a trip to the 2022 World Cup by losing 1-0 to North Macedonia in Palermo.

The greatest soccer tournament in the world will kick off this November in Qatar — and four-time winner Italy will be staying home.

“We are destroyed,” said veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini.

As for North Macedonia, the country that only gained independence in 1991 hasn’t punched its ticket to Qatar quite yet. The European qualifying playoffs meant that Thursday was only a semi-final for this four-team bracket. North Macedonia now has to go on the road to face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, which defeated Turkey 3-1 in Porto. This mini-bracket had been widely expected to deliver a titanic clash between two heavyweights — the 2016 and 2020 European champions, Portugal and Italy. Instead, it now has the potential to deliver a World Cup Cinderella.

All it took was an evening of unbreakable defence to weather Italy’s 32 increasingly desperate attempts. North Macedonia had only produced three shots all night, but when the fourth came in the second minute of stoppage time, it was enough. Aleksandar Trajkovski barrelled into the Italian defence and took a speculative potshot from 20 yards, only to find the bottom corner of the Italian goal.

Ranked 67th in the world by FIFA, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, North Macedonia had never qualified for a major event of any sort before the European Championship last summer. When it got there, the team’s most notable contribution to the tournament was a controversy at home over jerseys that were the wrong shade of red. It lost all three of its games.

Italy, meanwhile, spent last summer on a romp.

On the hostile ground of London’s Wembley Stadium, it sent out a defiant message to world soccer. This team didn’t need superstars. It had unity, belief, and a system that worked. These weren’t the Azzurri anyone was used to, but here they were playing vibrant soccer that was good enough to knock off Belgium, Spain, and England on home turf. Italy was back. Now Italy is back to square one.

“The European Championship was my greatest joy on a professional level, what happened tonight is my biggest disappointment,” manager Roberto Mancini said.

Never in the history of the World Cup has Italy missed the tournament twice in a row. And this latest catastrophe has landed the team deep into operatic paradox: the Azzurri won the Euros, yet the past 15 years have clearly been some of the darkest in their soccer-playing history. Since lifting the World Cup in 2006, Italy has exited the tournament at the group stage in 2010 and 2014 and been dumped out of the qualifiers for 2018 and 2022.

That the team was even in this position was Italy’s own fault. Though it went undefeated in its first eight games of qualifying, its four victories and four tepid draws weren’t good enough to secure an automatic berth to the World Cup. That spot went to Switzerland instead, leaving Italy to settle for the playoff route.

The Azzurri would have to win twice knowing that the slightest slip-up could mean the end. That slip-up was named Aleksandar Trajkovski, a 29-year-old journeyman striker from Skopje. Over the years, he has bounced around Croatia, Belgium, and Denmark, and plies his trade these days in the Saudi Arabian league.

But that didn’t mean the stage in Sicily was foreign to him. The most successful stop of Trajkovski’s career came at Palermo. He played home games and scored goals in the Renzo Barbera Stadium. And on Thursday, it’s where he sent Italy on the short trip home and out of the World Cup.

-Joshua Robinson, The Wall Street Journal

Penalty miss costs Turkey

They will now go to Porto to face Portugal next Tuesday, after the Euro 2016 winners defeated Turkey 3-1 at the Estadio do Dragao, albeit only after Burak Yilmaz missed a crucial late penalty for the visitors.

The home side were cruising thanks to first-half goals by Brazilian-born midfielder Otavio and Liverpool forward Diogo Jota.

But Turkey’s veteran skipper Yilmaz pulled a goal back in the 65th minute, setting up a tense finish.

Turkey were then awarded a late penalty when a foul on Enes Unal was detected by the German referee following a VAR review, but Yilmaz put the spot-kick over the bar and Matheus Nunes secured Portugal’s victory in stoppage time.

Turkey have not appeared at the World Cup since coming third in Japan and South Korea in 2002.

Portugal have not missed out on the tournament since 1998 and, at 37, Cristiano Ronaldo’s dream of World Cup glory remains alive.

-AFP

Bale brilliance

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale was in inspirational form as his brace secured a 2-1 win for Wales against Austria in Cardiff.

Bale has only played five times for his club Real Madrid this season, and just twice since August, but the Wales captain started at the Cardiff City Stadium and opened the scoring from a stunning 25th-minute free-kick.

He then struck again, with a superb hit across goalkeeper Heinz Lindner and into the far corner, to double the lead six minutes after halftime.

Wales, who are bidding to qualify for their first World Cup since 1958, then held on after Austria reduced the deficit in the 64th minute when Marcel Sabitzer’s shot deflected in off Ben Davies.

Robert Page’s team will be at home in the playoff final but must wait until at least June for that, with the ongoing war in Ukraine meaning their tie away to Scotland remains on hold for now.

Sweden set up a playoff final against Poland next week after an extra-time strike by Robin Quaison gave them a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic in Solna.

Quarter-finalists in 2018, Sweden had to be patient before edging a Czech side who owed their place in the play-offs to their performance in the last UEFA Nations League.

Saudi Arabia-based Quaison scored in the 110th minute, finishing after a one-two with Alexander Isak.

Poland received a bye to the playoff final after would-be opponents Russia were suspended from all international competition until further notice following the invasion of Ukraine.

Scotland and Poland drew 1-1 in a friendly in Glasgow, with Kieran Tierney giving the home side the lead only for Krzysztof Piatek to level with a stoppage-time penalty.

-AFP