The World Cup in Qatar (November 21 - December 18) suddenly faded away.
With this new failure in Palermo (0-1), Thursday, against North Macedonia, 67th world nation, Italy, quadruple world champion (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), prolongs a little more what had been described as an "apocalypse" after the failure against Sweden in November 2017 and misses for the first time in its history two World Cups in a row.
That is twelve years minimum away from the big world for this country where the round ball remains by far the sport n ° 1.
Roberto Mancini and his men would have done well to write history in this way by falling in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
The scenario repeats itself five years after the humiliation against the Swedes (0-0, 1-0) at the same stage.
This Friday morning, misunderstanding reigns on the front pages of Italian newspapers.
Disastro Italia, beffa Macedonia al 92': siamo di nuovo fuori dal Mondiale!
https://t.co/LjcvsZeLG1
— La Gazzetta dello Sport (@Gazzetta_it) March 24, 2022
"Out of the world" launches the Gazzetta dello Sport, illustrating the failure with a photo of Giorgio Chiellini trying to comfort Gianluigi Donnarumma, the PSG goalkeeper.
The Corriere della Sera is "in hell" while Tuttosport does not want to believe it: "NOOOOOOOOO", writes the newspaper with nine "O" precisely.
This failure caused worldwide repercussions.
Some English media revel in it, like the Daily Mail, which compiles all the mocking reactions from fans, eight months after England's defeat in the Euro final against Italy.
They thus take up the refrain of the Italians after their coronation.
Annoyed by the song of the English "Football's coming home", Giorgio Chiellini and his teammates had hijacked the slogan "Football's coming Rome"... which is now turning against them.
In Spain too, the elimination of Italy is causing a lot of talk.
She finds herself in one of Marca (“Italy outside the world”).
The Argentinian and Brazilian media are also hallucinating about this “world sensation”.