Italy failed to secure its place at the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar after suffering a shocking 0-1 loss to North Macedonia in the semifinals of European WC qualifiers. This will be the second consecutive time the Italy national soccer team didn’t qualify for the World Cup.
The matchup was mostly a one-sided affair in which Italy was attacking and pressuring from the get-go while N. Macedonia focused on defense. Still, the game remained scoreless through the regular 90 minutes and it appeared the two sides would need extra time and perhaps penalties to determine the winner. But everything changed in the 92nd minute.
North Macedonia’s goalie Stole Dimitrievski sent a long ball that found its way to Al-Fayha’s forward Aleksandar Trajkovski after some confusion among Italy’s back four. Trajkovski took a few steps and then launched a powerful shot that found its way past Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the net.
In the end, Trajkovski’s goal proved to be enough to extend N. Macedonia’s dream of making their first World Cup and crush Italy’s hopes of returning to the big stage.
N. Macedonia’s job isn’t done yet as they face Portugal in the finals next week. The winner of this match will get one of the last spots in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Italy, which won European Championship last year, is heading back to the drawing board. This will be the first time that they won’t be part of the World Cup two times in a row and only the third time they didn’t qualify.
