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Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso has urged FIFA to revisit the World Cup qualifying format after his team were left facing an almost impossible task to secure automatic passage to the 2026 finals. Despite a 2-0 win over Moldova on Thursday, their sixth victory in seven Group I matches, Italy must now beat leaders Norway by nine goals in Milan on Sunday to avoid a third straight trip to the playoffs.
Norway’s perfect record and dominant goal difference, boosted by their 3-0 triumph over the Azzurri earlier in the campaign, leaves Italy’s hopes hanging by a thread. The four-time world champions, currently ninth in the FIFA rankings, famously failed to reach both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments after playoff defeats to Sweden and North Macedonia.
With Europe allocated 16 of the 48 spots in the expanded World Cup, Gattuso said the current system places European teams at a disadvantage.
"In my day, the best [group] runners-up went straight to the World Cup, now the rules have changed," Gattuso said. "To change the rules, you need to tell those who organize these tournaments."
"Italy's record of six wins [in qualification]? You'd have to ask the people who make the groups and the rules."
"In 1990 and 1994, there were two African [three qualified in 1994] teams, now there are nine. It's not a controversy, but there are difficulties, and we know it well."
"If we look at South America, where six out of 10 teams go directly to the World Cup and the seventh heads into a play-off with a team from Oceania, that does give you regrets and a certain sadness."
"That is the disappointment. The system needs to change in Europe."
Italy’s win in Chisinau did little to ease tension among the 400 travelling fans, who voiced their displeasure after the team took 88 minutes to find a breakthrough against the group’s bottom side. Gattuso, appointed in June after the opening loss to Norway, confronted the criticism directly.
"This is not the time to tell the players to go get a job," he said. "Honestly, I don't accept the fans' jeering."
"Now we all need to stay united. Deep down, I even thought they could lose this match considering how much we've changed [due to injuries], but those who came on did well."
But the fans’ reaction, chanting that players should “go to work”, deeply frustrated the coach.
"The protests from the fans are a disgrace, I'm sorry for what I heard today," he said. "This isn't the time to tell the players to go to work: we need to stay united, because the team is struggling on the pitch, and hearing 500 fans protesting away from home is something I don't accept."
Featured Imaged Credit: Pixabay / graphi, Pixabay / jordanwahba
