2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers: Why is Italy's ouster a historical upset? What went wrong?

Italy suffered a devastating defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday, March 24, putting an end to their hopes of competing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Italy was defeated 1-0 by an inferior North Macedonian side, and as a result, the team was eliminated from the World Cup for the second time in a row. Italy had earlier failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Russia. Prior to that, Italy had missed just one World Cup when it failed to qualify for the all-important tournament in 1958. 

After the match, Italian manager Roberto Mancini apologised to the supporters, saying that he was "more than disappointed" with the result of the game. 

"I’m more than disappointed, I’ve nothing to say. Something incredible happened tonight. We deserved to win the Euros, now we’ve been really unlucky…but that’s it, that’s the reality. I’m sorry for the players," Mancini said at the post-match press conference. 

Why is Italy's ouster a historical upset? 

Italy, a four-time world champion, had never lost a World Cup qualification match at home in the tournament's history. Prior to the loss to North Macedonia, Italy had played 51 World Cup qualifiers at home, winning 44, drawing seven, and losing none. On Thursday, though, the unthinkable happened when the European champions lost to a team that had never qualified for a World Cup before.

What went wrong for Italy? 

The Blues wasted numerous opportunities despite controlling the game for the bulk of the 90 minutes. Italy took 32 shots, but only five were on target, compared to two on target out of four attempts by North Macedonia. 

One of Italy's worst misses came near the end of the first half when Domenico Berardi received the ball and attempted to fire at an empty net but missed. Stole Dimitrievski, the goalkeeper for North Macedonia, came in rushing from the left side of the post to intercept the weak shot in time.

The Italians had an opportunity to score an equaliser towards the final minutes of the match but Alessandro Florenzi missed the chance as his attempted shot hit Joao Pedro and went wide of the goal post. 

Image: Twitter