{"id":28397,"date":"2026-04-01T02:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T02:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/italys-world-cup-curse-continues-as-bosnia-suffers-heartbreak-in-penalty-shootout-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T02:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T02:00:24","slug":"italys-world-cup-curse-continues-as-bosnia-suffers-heartbreak-in-penalty-shootout-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/italys-world-cup-curse-continues-as-bosnia-suffers-heartbreak-in-penalty-shootout-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy&#8217;s World Cup curse continues as Bosnia suffers heartbreak in penalty shootout | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"zoomEnabled\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/zenica-bosnia-and-herzegovina-players-of-italy-pose-for-a-team-photo-prior-the-fifa-world-cup-6836204.jpg?r=1774994202723\" alt=\"Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualification KO Playoff\" title=\"Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualification KO Playoff\" width=\"590\" height=\"380\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Italy will not participate in this year&#8217;s World Cup <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty)<\/span><span class=\"magnifier\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/zenica-bosnia-and-herzegovina-players-of-italy-pose-for-a-team-photo-prior-the-fifa-world-cup-6836204.jpg?r=1774994202723\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Italy continues to have a tough time in tournaments, missing out on qualifying for the World Cup for the third year in a row. Since defeating France in an unforgettable final 20 years ago, the Italians have won only one World Cup match, losing in the group stage in 2010 and 2014 and missing out on qualification to Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. He will not play again this summer after suffering a heartbreak in the penalty shootout against Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Courtesy of Moise Kean, Gennaro Gattuso&#8217;s side defeated Northern Ireland in the qualifying semi-final in Bosnia, leading 1-0 after 15 minutes on the road. However, Alessandro Bastoni was sent off just before half-time and the 10-man home side rallied and Haris Tabakovic equalized in the 79th minute, forcing extra time. Italy persevered and took the match to penalties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Pio Esposito fired Italy&#8217;s first spot-kick over the crossbar, and Brian Cristante&#8217;s third shot hit the crossbar from 12 yards remaining. Sandro Tonali was the only scorer. The Bosnians won 4-1, with Esmir Bajraktarevic galvanizing and converting all of their penalties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Italy became the first former champions in history to miss out on three consecutive World Cups. Meanwhile, Bosnia will be in Group B of the World Cup and will face co-host Toronto in their first match. Beyond that, Switzerland and Qatar await.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Elsewhere, Sweden, managed by former Chelsea and Brighton manager Graham Potter, defeated Poland 3-2 with an 88th-minute winner from Viktor G\u00f6keres, who missed Qatar four years ago. After a 2-2 draw in extra time, the Czech Republic defeated Denmark 3-1 in a penalty shootout. Turkey won 1-0 against Kosovo and qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 2002.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Sweden will be in Group F with Tunisia, Netherlands and Japan. The Czech Republic will be in Group A with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. Turkey will then play Paraguay and Australia, along with the other co-host United States, in Group D.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"zoomEnabled\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/zenica-bosnia-and-herzegovina-pio-esposito-of-italy-disappointment-during-the-fifa-world-cup-6836238.jpg?r=1774994202739\" alt=\"Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualification KO Playoff\" title=\"Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualification KO Playoff\" width=\"590\" height=\"393\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Italy&#8217;s latest World Cup heartbreak was a penalty shootout <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty)<\/span><span class=\"magnifier\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/zenica-bosnia-and-herzegovina-pio-esposito-of-italy-disappointment-during-the-fifa-world-cup-6836238.jpg?r=1774994202739\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<h3>All groups for the 2026 World Cup<\/h3>\n<p>Group A<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>America, Australia, Paraguay, T\u00fcrkiye<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Sweden<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq\/Bolivia<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Democratic Republic of Congo\/Jamaica<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2189010\/Italy-World-Cup-curse-Bosnia-and-Herzegovina\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Italy will not participate in this year&#8217;s World Cup (Image: Getty) Italy continues to have a tough time in tournaments, missing out on qualifying for the World Cup for the third year in a row. Since defeating France in an unforgettable final 20 years ago, the Italians have won only one World Cup match, losing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-28397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Italy&#039;s World Cup curse continues as Bosnia suffers heartbreak in penalty shootout | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/italys-world-cup-curse-continues-as-bosnia-suffers-heartbreak-in-penalty-shootout-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Italy&#039;s World Cup curse continues as Bosnia suffers heartbreak in penalty shootout | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Italy will not participate in this year&#8217;s World Cup (Image: Getty) Italy continues to have a tough time in tournaments, missing out on qualifying for the World Cup for the third year in a row. 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