Today’s 30-somethings remember Italy hoisting the World Cup trophy at the 2006 tournament when they were in middle school or high school.
Despite the country having stars like Mario Balotelli and venerable club teams like Roma, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli (not to mention the very fashionable Venezia FC), the Azzurri has not come close to that glory.
In fact, Italy won’t even be in the 2026 World Cup. This will be the third straight tournament it misses.
Italy’s last goal in the World Cup was Balotelli’s strike against England in the group stage of the 2014 competition. That was also the last time they qualified for the tournament.
What happened?
Hopes were high that Italy would return to the World Cup this year, especially since the tournament expanded to a record 48 teams, including 16 from Europe.
Instead, Italy lost its European qualifying playoff in March to Bosnia and Herzegovina in penalty kicks. The Azzurri was up early in the match, but a red card left the squad with 10 players on the pitch and things fell apart from there.
After the global embarrassment, Italy’s Sport Minister Andrea Abodi called for a fresh start for the team.
“It’s clear that Italian football needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that starts with changes at the top of the FIGC (Italian soccer federation),” he said, calling for Gabriele Gravina to step down from his position at the head of the federation. Gravina would eventually resign.
Italy also failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after winning the 2020 European Championship.
Back when they missed the 2018 World Cup, it was the first time the Azzurri failed to qualify for the competition since 1958.
Italy is one of only three countries to win the World Cup four times, tied with Germany and trailing only Brazil for the most all time with five championships.
Their next opportunity to equal the Seleção will have to be in 2030.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Italy in World Cup? Why Azzurri have fallen apart
