'Really hurt' Gennaro Gattuso vents after Italy miss out on THIRD straight World Cup as statement issued on manager's future

The unthinkable has happened once more for the four-time world champions. Italy’s long road to redemption ended in a nightmare on Tuesday night as they lost a tense penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina. After playing the majority of the contest with 10 men following a red card for Alessandro Bastoni, the Azzurri were eventually beaten 4-1 in the shootout, with misses from Francesco Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante sealing their fate.

The playoff final defeat means Italy will miss the 2026 World Cup in North America, adding to the scars of 2018 and 2022. It marks the first time a former World Cup winner has failed to qualify for three tournaments in a row. For Gattuso, who took over from Luciano Spalletti last June, the result was a bitter pill to swallow given the effort shown by his squad under trying circumstances.

A visibly shaken Gattuso did not hold back in his post-match assessment, shifting the focus away from his own position to the collective suffering of the squad. "I'm not interested at all in talking about my future today," the Italy and AC Milan icon told reporters, per ESPN. "It hurts, it really hurts. More than hurting me, it hurts to see this group which has really given everything in these months and I think we deserved to get back what we put in and I honestly think it's too reductive and too immature to be talking about my future today. Here we should be talking about Italy, about the national team shirt, that it's yet another blow even though this time we didn't deserve it. We deserved more and that's why my future doesn't matter."

Despite the catastrophic nature of the World Cup failure, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina has issued a supportive statement regarding the coaching staff. "I have to praise Gattuso. I think he's been a great coach. I've asked him to stay on in charge of these players," Gravina confirmed.

However, the mood within the camp remains sombre, with team delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon echoing the sentiment that the current wound is too fresh to make long-term decisions. The legendary shot-stopper added: “This is something that truly hurts and that means we run the risk of not thinking clearly, so I will stop there. We’ll be here until June, then we’ll see for the rest how the whole thing is tackled.”

The recurring failure to reach the world stage has put immense pressure on Gravina himself. Having overseen two unsuccessful qualification campaigns, the president admitted that a federation council meeting has been called for next week to evaluate the state of Italian football. As the dust settles, the Azzurri must once again face a four-year wait to prove they still belong among the elite of international football.