For the second straight time, Italy will watch the World Cup from home.
The Italians suffered a stunning defeat during Thursday’s UEFA World Cup qualifying match against North Macedonia, conceding a stoppage time goal to Aleksander Trajkovski to seal a 1-0 defeat. The loss was Italy’s first defeat in 60 home World Cup qualifiers.
Italy dominated possession and was on the front foot for nearly the entire night, maintaining a 65% possession advantage and out-shooting North Macedonia 32-4, though was never able to break through on the score line. The result is especially unexpected given Italy just won the Euro championship eight months ago.