Italy loses to Macedonia and is out of the World Cup for the second time in a row

For the second time in a row, Italy will be out of the World Cup. This Thursday (24), in the city of Palermo, the Italians were defeated by Macedonia, 1-0, with a goal in stoppage time.

Four-time world champion, the Italian team spent a good part of the game putting pressure on the opponent, but couldn’t score even with more than 30 shots on goal.

Now, in the European repechage dispute, Macedonia will face Portugal. The Portuguese team also beat Turkey on Thursday, 3-1.

At Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, the Portuguese team built a good advantage in the first half, with goals from Otávio, in the 15th minute, and Diogo Jota, in the 42nd. After the break, Burak scored for the Turks, but Matheus Nunes closed the account in injury time – the Turkish team still missed a penalty when the score was 2-1.

The hosts had control of the match, with good participations from Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva, although they had at least two scares in counterattacks.

Meanwhile, at the Renzo Barbera stadium in Palermo, the Italians finished on goal 16 times during the opening period, but failed to swing Macedonia’s net. After the break, the Italians continued to insist, but who ended up scoring was Aleksandar Trajkovi, already in stoppage time.

Held in a new format, the dispute initially provided for 12 teams, divided into three groups, with semifinals and finals in single games.

Russia was in Group B and would face Poland. The Russians, however, were excluded from this dispute by FIFA, in the wake of the series of sanctions imposed on the country ruled by Vladimir Putin over the war against Ukraine, about a month ago.

With the exclusion of the Russians, the team that counts on the striker Robert Lewandowski – elected by FIFA the best player in the world in the last two years – advanced directly to the final. The rival will be the winner of the duel between Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Also as a result of the conflict started by Putin, the confrontation between Ukraine and Scotland, in Glasgow, was postponed and should be played until June, on a date to be defined by FIFA.

The winner of this match will be the opponent will face Wales, who eliminated Austria.

In the European Qualifiers, ten teams guaranteed direct places for the World Cup: Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Croatia, England and Germany. Three more countries will join the group at the end of the repechage.