It’s like the old joke about buses: you wait hours for one, and then two come along at once. Except in reverse. Italy went 60 years without missing a World Cup and now, after Thursday’s 1-0 playoff defeat to North Macedonia, they’ve missed the last two buses to the biggest show on Earth.
– Highlights: Italy stunned by North Macedonia (U.S.)
It may feel jarring that the side that won the European Championships just eight months ago, the team that, before Thursday night, had lost just one of its previous 39 games (setting a new world record unbeaten streak along the way) should go out to North Macedonia (population: 1.83 million, FIFA ranking: 67), but that’s the basic nature of this sport and, specifically, World Cup qualifying. (At least that’s the case in Europe, where a whopping 13 countries get to qualify.)
Assuming you’re not particularly lucky, you have a certain margin for error. You can screw up once, twice or three times… and then you pay the price.
Italy would have cruised through their qualifying group, taking 22 of a possible 24 points, and would have been watching these playoffs on TV if not for three craven errors in three games they comfortably dominated: missing penalties against Switzerland home and away, and conceding a silly goal to Bulgaria. Three wins that turned into draws: any one of those stays a win, and you’re not reading this column right now.
Still, they controlled their own destiny against North Macedonia. And again, they took a ton of shots (32, 19 of them blocked) enjoyed a ton of possession (70%), but failed to put it in the net before the opposition scored a worldie in injury time.
That’s football.
– ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
– Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access
That’s also part of the appeal of this game: goals are rare, the outcome often hinges on moments that have outsized importance. It means that North Macedonia can travel away to the European…
Source : espn
