Four-time champions Italy lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties in the 2026 European qualifying play-off, missing out on advancing to the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time.
The match was tied at 1-1 after extra time, and Bosnia won the spot kick 4-1 despite Italy’s pressure being reduced to 10 men in the first half of regular time.
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Esmir Bajraktarevic threw Italy into a new nightmare by scoring the winning goal in the Bosnian team’s Group B match against Zenica and in the games against co-hosts Canada, Switzerland and Qatar.
Italy took the lead in the 15th minute with Moise Kean’s excellent first-time goal from the edge of the box.
However, although the Italian team was reduced to 10 men, Alessandro Bastoni was sent off for a professional foul, bringing down Amar Memmic four minutes before half-time, denying the home side a clear scoring chance.
After that, they continued to apply relentless pressure, and Haris Tabakovic pounced on the ball from a corner kick in the box to equalize the score.
Italy missed the first and third kicks of the penalty shootout, but the home fans were thrilled when the Italian side took the four required kicks.
The Italian team became the first former champions to miss out on the World Cup finals for the third year in a row. The last victory in this competition was in 2006, when current coach Gennaro Gattuso was part of the national team.
Meanwhile, Vajraktarevic’s decisive penalty helped Bosnia advance to their second World Cup final since 2014 in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Czech Republic defeats Denmark to qualify for 2026 FIFA World Cup
Michal Sadilek’s penalty led the Czech Republic to a 2-2 draw after extra time, before they defeated Denmark on penalties in Prague and qualified for the World Cup.
The Czech national team will be playing in the World Cup for the first time since 2006 and will face Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A of a tournament hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July.
Tomas Choly and Tomas Soucek also scored for the Czech Republic in the shootout, but Ladislav Krejci was denied by Danish goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.
Christian Eriksen was the only scorer in the shootout for the away team, Rasmus Hjølund hit the crossbar, Anders Dreyer’s shot was denied by goalkeeper Matej Kovar and Matthias Jensen’s shot went over the crossbar.
On a chilly night in Prague, Pavel Suluk put the Czechs ahead with a superb volley into the top corner three minutes into the match after the Danish defense cleared a corner kick in their direction.
Denmark leveled the score in the 72nd minute with a sharp header from Joachim Andersen, who entered the box following Mikel Damsgaard’s free kick.
Czech skipper Krejci took the lead again in the 100th minute, picking up the ball that Soucek knocked down in a scramble for the goal mouth following a cross from Vladimir Coufal.
His shot was deflected into the net by Danish defender Alexander Barr.
However, Denmark equalized again in the 111th minute, when substitute Kasper Hot headed Eriksen’s corner kick six minutes after entering the field.
In last week’s play-off semi-finals, the Czech Republic defeated Ireland in a penalty shootout, while Denmark comfortably defeated North Macedonia 4-0.
However, after taking an early lead, the hosts struggled to break through the Czech defense as they stopped the bus and defended with 10 men.
Hoylund’s low shot was cleared by Czech goalkeeper Matej Koval, but Gustav Isaksen’s curling free kick also went over the crossbar.
The home side looked threatening towards the end of the first half when Lukas Provod tipped the ball past Hermansen and the right post.
The rest of the match followed much the same vein, with Denmark pushing in and out and finding Kovar’s arms, while the hosts often resorted to blindly clearing the ball.
