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No, this is not an April Fools joke. I The AzzurriThe world football blue bloods who have won four World Cup titles and are currently ranked 12th in the world, will miss this tournament for the third time in a row after losing to Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties to decide if they will qualify for the last chance yesterday.
With their impressive victory over Italy, the 65th-ranked Bosnians secured the last place in Group B and he will co-chair with Canada with its World Cup opener on June 12 in Toronto.
In yesterday’s other games to decide the last six places in the World Cup, Czechia defeated Denmark on penalties after a 2-2 draw, Turkey topped Kosovo 1-0, Sweden beat Poland 3-2, Congo replaced Jamaica 1-0 and Iraq beat Bolivia 2-1.
The visiting Italians, who beat Northern Ireland at home last week to reach the European finals, scored their first goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina through Moise Kean in the 15th minute. But defender Alessandro Bastoni’s red card for a difficult tackle that ruined Bosnia’s scoring chance late in the first half left Italy trailing all the way, and the home side broke through in the 79th minute with a goal from Haris Tabakovic to hold it 1-1. After 30 minutes of scoreless extra time, Bosnia beat Italy 4-1 in the final to earn their second trip to the World Cup and first since 2014.
That was also the last time Italy did it. In 2018, they lost a two-legged qualifier against Sweden, and in 2022 they lost 1-0 to tiny North Macedonia. After again failing to win their first European qualifier, where they lost both games against No. Instead, they became the first multi-time champions to miss the tournament three times in a row.
It’s hard to swallow not only for Italy but for many Italian-Canadian soccer fans who were hoping to see their two favorite teams play each other in Toronto in a few months. Given the city’s large Italian community, it was spectacular, to say the least.
But, from a Canadian perspective, this may be for the best.
Sure, the Italian team looks like a mess right now, but they are far more dangerous foes than Bosnia, who are ranked 53 places below. And with Italy out of the picture, the 30th-ranked Canadians easily sit as the No. 1 team. Are you familiar with Death Squad? Well, this could be the Team of Life.
Canada’s chances of reaching the playoffs for the first time look very good right now. The Canadians will enjoy home-field advantage in all of their first-round games (the other two are in Vancouver) and it’s much easier to advance under the new format of the expanded 48-team tournament. Along with the top two teams from each group advancing, the eight third-placed teams will now join them. According to the current betting odds, Canada has about a 75 percent chance of advancing to the group stage.
Still, there is work to be done in a scrappy team that has been without Alphonso Davies, its captain and star player, since he tore his ACL in March last year against the United States. Other injured players absent from last night’s scoreless draw against 44th-ranked Tunisia at the tough BMO Stadium in Toronto included defenders Alistair Johnston and Moise Bombito, midfielder Stephen Eustaquio and striker Jacob Shaffelburg.
On the bright side, the absence allowed head coach Jesse Marsch to try out younger players in Canada’s final game before his 26-man roster is due on May 30. “I have some tough decisions to make,” Marsch said.
Goalkeeper Max Crepeau, who scored the shutout goal, warned against overconfidence in Canada’s World Cup. “Every game will be a battle,” he said. “Small margins will make the difference. One false step will make the difference.”
Here’s something else on last night’s game and Canada’s World Cup team’s approach from CBC Sports contributor Chris Jones.
