{"id":206138,"date":"2026-04-01T18:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/italy-fails-to-reach-world-cup-again-losing-to-bosnia-in-penalties-highlights-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T18:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:56:20","slug":"italy-fails-to-reach-world-cup-again-losing-to-bosnia-in-penalties-highlights-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/italy-fails-to-reach-world-cup-again-losing-to-bosnia-in-penalties-highlights-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy fails to reach World Cup again, losing to Bosnia in penalties: Highlights – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Italy’s World Cup exile continues after they fell to a 4-1 penalty shootout defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their playoff final on Tuesday following a 1-1 draw.
Four-time champions Italy had lost out at the playoff stage to miss the last two World Cups, and their last qualification in 2014 coincided with Bosnia’s only previous appearance.
Italy got off to the perfect start, with Moise Kean putting them ahead in the 15th minute, but had Alessandro Bastoni sent off four minutes before the break to raise the hopes of the home side.
Bosnia equalized in the 79th minute through Haris Tabakovic and both Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante missed their penalties while the hosts made no mistake from the spot to repeat their semi-final shootout win over Wales.
\u2013 Reuters<\/em>
Fifteen minutes into the additional period, Bosnia and Italy are still tied 1-1. The Italians, despite playing with 10 men, applied furious pressure in extra time and had a handful of big chances, but were unable to regain the lead.
We’re heading to an extra 30 minutes after Bosnia-Italy finished 1-1 following Bosnia’s equalizer with just 10 minutes left in regulation \u2013 playing a man up for more than half the game.
Bosnia finally found the equalizer with Haris Tabakovic poking home a lose ball amidst relentless pressure. There was nothing Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to stop Tabakovic on the rebound after making a spectacular initial save.
We’re into the final 15 minutes with Italy still holding a 1-0 lead while playing down to 10 men. Bosnia and Herzegovina has managed 21 shots in the game
After picking up the ball at the midway line and bursting into space, Moise Kean had a one-on-one against Bosnia goalkeeper Nikola Vasiljev \u2013 but put his effort over the bar in the 60th minute. A second goal for 10-man Italy could all but seal this one.
Leading 1-0 in the final minutes of the first half, Italy defender Alessandro Bastoni was handed a straight red card for a tackle on Bosnia’s Amar Memic, who had a clear path to goal.
Italy had looked firmly in control throughout the first half, but now must survive the next 45 minutes playing with 10 men. Bastoni, who plays for Inter Milan, was named Serie A’s best defender each of the past two seasons.
Italy scored first, pressing defensively and were able pounce on Bosnia’s miscue at the back.
Nico Barella intercepted a pass from Bosnia’s goalkeeper and slid it over to Kean, who provided a spectacular finish from outside the penalty area \u2013 his sixth match in a row with a goal.
Italy\u00a0coach Gennaro Gattuso dismissed concerns over pitch conditions and the atmosphere his side would face, saying he had never conceded a goal to a fan.
Italy\u00a0were forced into a change of plans after snow and rain led to fears over pitch conditions in\u00a0Bosnia, and trained in Florence on Monday morning before travelling.
“It’s an excuse. If the pitch is bad, it’s bad for both teams, the match still has to be played,” Gattuso told reporters. “If we start thinking about the pitch, the stands… no, that’s weak. I’ve seen the pitch and it’s fine. Honestly, even if it were bad, there’s little we could do.
“The respect we have for\u00a0Bosnia\u00a0is enormous, for what they show on the pitch. As for the fans, they don’t score goals, that’s never happened to me.”
\u2013 Reuters<\/em>
Bosnia\u00a0captain Edin Dzeko brushed aside the controversy over\u00a0Italy\u00a0players celebrating his team’s\u00a0win over Wales, but feels the reaction showed the four\u2011times champions are feeling the heat ahead of the World Cup playoff final between the two sides.
Italy\u00a0risk missing out on World Cup qualification for a third consecutive time.
“Italy\u00a0didn’t want to play in Wales, I don’t know why, because we went there without fear and won,” Dzeko said. “I don’t know why\u00a0Italy\u00a0should be afraid of Wales or\u00a0Bosnia.\u00a0Italy\u00a0is an incredible national team that has won four World Cups.
“If they’re afraid of playing in Wales, it means something isn’t working, and maybe we should look at it this way, they might really suffer in this match because they’re playing for so much after missing two World Cups. That means they’re afraid.”
\u2013 Reuters<\/em>
Italy is the better side on paper, but this is exactly the kind of high-pressure road match that has tripped the Azzurri<\/em> up up before. Bilino Polje is a notoriously hostile venue, Dz\u030ceko knows Italian defenders inside out from his years in Serie A, and Bosnia showed real resilience to come back against Wales. Italy’s quality should win out, but this will not be comfortable.
Prediction:<\/strong>\u00a0Bosnia and Herzegovina 1, Italy 2
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Italy’s World Cup exile continues after they fell to a 4-1 penalty shootout defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their playoff final on Tuesday following a 1-1 draw.Four-time champions Italy had lost out at the playoff stage to miss the last two World Cups, and their last qualification in 2014 coincided with Bosnia’s only previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":206139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-206138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}