In this advanced read for sports lovers, we learn that Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup yet again.
新华社柏林3月31日电（记者赵建通）整整三届，12年的时间，球迷无法在世界杯舞台见到意大利队。在31日进行的2026美加墨世界杯预选赛欧洲区附加赛决赛中，意大利队点球大战不敌波黑队，再次饮恨。
当天这场对决在波黑队主场进行。第15分钟，意大利队凭借基恩的进球取得领先，但中后卫巴斯托尼在第41分钟鲁莽铲球后被红牌罚下，成为本场的转折点。
少打一人的意大利队随后深度收缩阵型，但波黑队攻势如潮，塔巴科维奇在第79分钟将比分扳为1:1。双方在常规时间未分胜负，之后的加时赛也均无建树，比赛来到点球大战。意大利队的皮奥和克里斯坦特分别在第一轮和第三轮踢丢点球，随着波黑球员第四轮主罚命中，意大利队最终落败。
世界排名第12名的意大利队，历史上曾四次夺得世界杯冠军，最近一次是2006年。但如今，意大利队已经阔别世界杯许久，上一次他们出现在世界杯正赛还要追溯至2014年的巴西，那一届他们小组赛未能出线。
当天同样通过点球大战晋级的还有捷克队，他们与丹麦队在120分钟内战成2:2平。捷克队在点球大战中更胜一筹，拿到世界杯正赛门票。
瑞典队以3:2险胜波兰队晋级。双方上演了紧张的拉锯战，瑞典队两度领先，波兰队两度扳平。最终凭借哲凯赖什在第88分钟的补射破门，瑞典队挺进世界杯决赛圈。
土耳其队以1:0战胜科索沃队，锁定世界杯席位，阿克蒂尔科奥卢在第53分钟打入制胜球。
至此，世界杯预选赛欧洲区比赛全部结束，16个参赛席位各有归属。
2026美加墨世界杯将于6月11日至7月19日举行，共有48支队伍参赛。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| <p>无缘 | wúyuán | to miss out on; to be denied |
| 晋级 | jìnjí | to advance; to qualify |
| 点球大战 | diǎnqiú dàzhàn | penalty shootout |
| 红牌罚下 | hóngpái fáxià | to be sent off with a red card |
| 转折点 | zhuǎnzhédiǎn | turning point |
| 攻势如潮 | gōngshì rú cháo | attacks coming in waves |
| 扳平 | bānpíng | to equalize (the score) |
| 加时赛 | jiāshísài | extra time; overtime |
| 阔别 | kuòbié | to be separated for a long time |
| 险胜 | xiǎnshèng | to narrowly win; to edge past |
| 新华社 | Xīn huá shè | Xinhua News Agency, official press agency of the People's Republic of China, founded in 1931 |
| 柏 | bǎi | cypress |
| 林 | Lín | surname Lin; Japanese surname Hayashi |
| 月 | yuè | moon; month; monthly; CL:個|个[ge4],輪|轮[lun2] |
| 日 | rì | (bound form) sun; day; day of the month; (bound form) Japan (abbr. for 日本[Ri4 ben3]); (vulgar) to fuck; to have sex with |
| 电 | diàn | lightning; electricity; electric (bound form); to get (or give) an electric shock; phone call or telegram etc; to send via telephone or telegram etc |
| 记者 | jì zhě | reporter; journalist; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 赵 | zhǎo | surname Zhao; the Former Zhao 前趙|前赵[Qian2 Zhao4] (304–329) and Later Zhao 後趙|后赵[Hou4 Zhao4] (319–350), states of the Sixteen Kingdoms |
| 建 | jiàn | to establish; to found; to set up; to build; to construct |
| 通 | tōng | to go through; to know well; (suffix) expert; to connect; to communicate; open; to clear; classifier for letters, telegrams, phone calls etc |
| 整 | zhěng | (bound form) whole; complete; entire; (before a measure word) whole; (before or after number + measure word) exactly; (bound form) in good order; tidy; neat; (bound form) to put in… |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 届 | jiě | to arrive at (place or time); to become due |
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; grain; harvest (old); variant of 年[nian2] |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 时间 | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time |
| 球 | qíu | ball used for playing games (variant of 球[qiu2]); ball; sphere; globe; CL:個|个[ge4]; ball game; match; CL:場|场[chang3] |
| 迷 | mī | to bewilder; fan; lost |
| 无 | mó | used in 南無|南无[na1 mo2] |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 世界杯 | Shì jiè bēi | World Cup |
| 舞台 | wǔ tái | (lit. and fig.) stage; arena |
| 见到 | jiàn dào | to see |
| 意大利 | Yì dà lì | Italy |
| 队 | duì | squadron; team; group; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 进行 | jìn xíng | (of a process etc) to proceed; to be in progress; to be underway; (of people) to carry out; to conduct (an investigation or discussion etc); (of an army etc) to be on the march; to… |
| 美加 | Měi Jiā | US and Canada (abbr.) |
| 墨 | Mò | surname Mo; abbr. for 墨西哥[Mo4 xi1 ge1], Mexico |
| 预 | yù | to advance; in advance; beforehand; to prepare |
| 选 | xuán | to choose; to select |
| 赛 | sài | to compete; competition; match; to surpass; better than; superior to; to excel |
| 欧 | Oū | Europe (abbr. for 歐洲|欧洲[Ou1 zhou1]); European Union (abbr. for 歐盟|欧盟[Ou1 meng2]); surname Ou |
| 洲 | zhou | continent |
| 区 | Oū | surname Ou |
| 附加赛 | fù jiā sài | additional competition; play-off; decider |
| 决赛 | jué sài | finals (of a competition) |
| 中 | Zhōng | (bound form) China; Chinese; surname Zhong |
| 不敌 | bù dí | no match for; cannot beat |
| 波黑 | Bō Hēi | Bosnia and Herzegovina (abbr. for 波斯尼亞和黑塞哥維那|波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那[Bo1 si1 ni2 ya4 he2 Hei1 sai4 ge1 wei2 na4]) |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
| 次 | cì | next in sequence; second; the second (day, time etc); secondary; vice-; sub-; infra-; inferior quality; substandard; order; sequence; hypo- (chemistry); classifier for enumerated e… |
| 饮 | yǐn | old variant of 飲|饮[yin3]; to drink |
| 恨 | hěn | to hate |
| 当天 | dāng tiān | on that day |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 场 | cháng | threshing floor; classifier for events and happenings: spell, episode, bout; variant of 場|场[chang2] |
| 对决 | duì jué | confrontation; contest; showdown |
| 主场 | zhǔ chǎng | (sports) home ground; home field; (sports) home game; main venue (for a festival etc) |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 分钟 | fēn zhōng | minute |
| 凭 | píng | variant of 憑|凭[ping2]; to lean against; to rely on; on the basis of; no matter (how, what etc); proof |
| 借 | jiè | to borrow; (used in combination with 給|给[gei3] or 出[chu1] etc) to lend; to make use of; to avail oneself of; (sometimes followed by 著|着[zhe5]) by; with; variant of 借[jie4] |
| 基 | jī | (bound form) base; foundation; (bound form) radical (chemistry); (bound form) gay (loanword from English into Cantonese, Jyutping: gei1, followed by orthographic borrowing from Can… |
| 恩 | ēn | variant of 恩[en1]; favor; grace; kindness; (coll.) used like 嗯[en4] in online chat, expressing agreement |
| 进球 | jìn qíu | to score a goal; goal (sport) |
| 取得 | qǔ dé | to acquire; to get; to obtain |
| 领先 | lǐng xiān | to lead; to be in front |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 卫 | Wèi | surname Wei; vassal state during the Zhou Dynasty (1066–221 BC), located in present-day Henan and Hebei Provinces |
| 巴 | Bā | Ba, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan); the east of Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality; surname Ba; (bound form) abbr. for 巴… |
| 斯 | Sī | Slovakia; Slovak; abbr. for 斯洛伐克[Si1 luo4 fa2 ke4] |
| 托 | tuo | to hold up in one's hand; to support with one's palm; (bound form) a shill; torr (unit of pressure) |
| 尼 | ní | Buddhist nun; (often used in phonetic spellings) |
| 鲁 | Lǔ | surname Lu; Lu, an ancient state of China 魯國|鲁国[Lu3 guo2]; short name for Shandong 山東|山东[Shan1 dong1] |
| 莽 | ||
| 铲 | ||
| 被 | bèi | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, … |
| 成为 | chéng wéi | to become; to turn into |
| 本 | běn | (bound form) root; stem; (bound form) origin; source; (bound form) one's own; this; (bound form) this; the current (year etc); (bound form) original; (bound form) inherent; origina… |
| 少 | shǎo | few; less; to lack; to be missing; to stop (doing sth); seldom |
| 打 | dá | (loanword) dozen; Taiwan pr. [da3] |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 随 | Suí | surname Sui |
| 深 | shēn | old variant of 深[shen1]; (lit. and fig.) deep |
| 度 | dù | to pass; to spend (time); measure; limit; extent; degree of intensity; degree (angles, temperature etc); kilowatt-hour; classifier for events and occurrences |
| 收 | shōu | to receive; to accept; to collect; to put away; to restrain; to stop; in care of (used on address line after name) |
| 缩 | suo | to withdraw; to contract; to reduce; also pr. [su4] |
| 阵 | zhèn | disposition of troops; wave; spate; burst; spell; short period of time; classifier for events or states of short duration |
| 型 | xīng | mold; style |
| 塔 | tǎ | pagoda (abbr. for 塔婆[ta3 po2], a loanword from Sanskrit stūpa); tower; pylon (CL:座[zuo4]); (loanword) (pastry) tart; old variant of 塔[ta3] |
| 科 | kē | branch of study; administrative section; division; field; branch; stage directions; family (taxonomy); rules; laws; to mete out (punishment); to levy (taxes etc); to fine sb; CL:個|… |
| 维奇 | Wéi qí | Pope Vigilius (in office 537-555); phonetic -vich or -wich in Russian names |
| 将 | jiāng | will; shall; to use; to take; to checkmate; just a short while ago; (introduces object of main verb, used in the same way as 把[ba3]) |
| 比分 | bǐ fēn | score (of a game or competition) |
| 扳 | ||
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 双方 | shuāng fāng | bilateral; both sides; both parties involved |
| 常规 | cháng guī | code of conduct; conventions; common practice; routine (medical procedure etc) |
| 未 | wèi | not yet; did not; have not; not; 8th earthly branch: 1-3 p.m., 6th solar month (7th July-6th August), year of the Sheep; ancient Chinese compass point: 210° |
| 分 | fēn | to divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to distinguish (good and bad); (bound form) branch of (an organization); sub- (as in 分局[fen1 ju2]); fraction; one tenth (of cert… |
| 胜负 | shèng fù | victory or defeat; the outcome of a battle |
| 之 | zhī | (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]); him; her; it |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 均 | jun | (bound form) equal; uniform; even |
| 建树 | jiàn shù | to make a contribution; to establish; to found; contribution |
| 比赛 | bǐ sài | competition (sports etc); match; CL:場|场[chang3],次[ci4]; to compete |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 到点 | dào diǎn | it's time (to do sth); the time has come |
| 大战 | dà zhàn | war; to wage war |
| 皮 | Pí | surname Pi |
| 奥 | Aò | (bound form) Austria (abbr. for 奧地利|奥地利[Ao4 di4 li4]); (bound form) Olympics (abbr. for 奧林匹克|奥林匹克[Ao4 lin2 pi3 ke4]) |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 克 | Kè | abbr. for 克羅地亞|克罗地亚[Ke4 luo2 di4 ya4], Croatia; (Tw) abbr. for 克羅埃西亞|克罗埃西亚[Ke4 luo2 ai1 xi1 ya4], Croatia; Ke (c. 2000 BC), seventh of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God; variant of 剋|克[ke4] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 坦 | tán | flat; level |
| 特 | tè | special; unique; distinguished; especially; unusual; very; abbr. for 特克斯[te4 ke4 si1], tex |
| 分别 | fēn bié | to part; to leave each other; to distinguish; to tell apart; difference; distinction; in different ways; differently; separately; individually; respectively |
| 轮 | lūn | wheel; disk; ring; to take turns; to rotate |
| 踢 | tī | to kick; to play (e.g. soccer); (slang) butch (in a lesbian relationship) |
| 丢 | dīu | to lose; to put aside; to throw |
| 点球 | diǎn qíu | penalty kick |
| 随着 | suí zhe | along with; in the wake of; following |
| 球员 | qíu yuán | (ball sports) player; team member |
| 四 | sì | four; 4 |
| 主罚 | zhǔ fá | penalty (kick) |
| 命 | mǐng | life; order or command |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 终 | zhong | end |
| 落 | là | to leave out; to be missing; to leave behind or forget to bring; to lag or fall behind |
| 败 | bǎi | to defeat; to lose (to an opponent); to wither |
| 世界 | shì jiè | world |
| 排名 | pái míng | to rank (1st, 2nd etc); ranking |
| 名 | míng | name; noun (part of speech); place (e.g. among winners); famous; classifier for people |
| 历 | lì | old variant of 曆|历[li4]; old variant of 歷|历[li4]; calendar; to experience; to undergo; to pass through; all; each; every; history |
| 史 | Shǐ | surname Shi |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 曾 | Zēng | surname Zeng |
| 四次 | sì cì | fourth; four times; quartic |
| 夺 | duō | to seize; to wrest control of; to force one's way through; to lose |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 冠军 | guàn jūn | champion |
| 最近 | zuì jìn | recently; soon; nearest |
| 一次 | yī cì | first; first time; once; (math.) linear (of degree one) |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 如今 | rú jīn | nowadays; now |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 许久 | xǔ jǐu | for a long time; for ages |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 出现 | chū xiàn | to appear; to arise; to emerge; to show up |
| 正 | zhēng | first month of the lunar year |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 追 | zhui | to sculpt; musical instrument (old) |
| 溯 | ||
| 至 | zhì | to arrive; most; to; until |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 小组赛 | xiǎo zǔ sài | (sports) group stage; group-stage match |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 出线 | chū xiàn | (sports) to go out of bounds; to go over the line; to qualify for the next round of competition; (Tw) (fig.) to make the grade; to achieve success |
| 同 | tóng | like; same; similar; together; alike; with; used in 衚衕|胡同[hu2 tong4] |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 通过 | tōng guò | to pass through; to get through; to adopt (a resolution); to pass (legislation); to pass (a test); by means of; through; via |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 捷 | jiē | nimble |
| 与 | yú | variant of 歟|欤[yu2] |
| 丹麦 | Dān mài | Denmark |
| 内战 | nèi zhàn | civil war |
| 成 | Chéng | surname Cheng; short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1] |
| 平 | Píng | surname Ping |
| 更胜 | gèng shèng | to be even better than; to be superior to |
| 筹 | chōu | chip (in gambling); token (for counting); ticket; resource; way; means |
| 拿到 | ná dào | to get; to obtain |
| 门票 | mén piào | ticket (for theater, cinema etc) |
| 瑞 | ||
| 典 | diǎn | canon; law; standard work of scholarship; literary quotation or allusion; ceremony; to be in charge of; to mortgage or pawn |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 波 | Bō | (bound form) Poland (abbr. for 波蘭|波兰[Bo1 lan2]); surname Bo |
| 兰 | lān | orchid; surname Lan |
| 演 | yǎn | to perform (a play etc); to stage (a show); (bound form) to develop; to play out; to carry out (a task) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 紧 | jǐn | tight; strict; close at hand; near; urgent; tense; hard up; short of money; to tighten |
| 张 | Zhāng | surname Zhang |
| 拉 | lā | to pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw; to chat; (coll.) to empty one's bowels |
| 锯 | jǔ | a saw; to saw (ju4) |
| 战 | zhàn | to fight; fight; war; battle |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) |
| 哲 | zhē | wise |
| 凯 | Kǎi | surname Kai |
| 赖 | lǎi | to depend on; to rely on; to deny; to blame; to loiter; surname Lai |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 补 | bǔ | to repair; to patch; to mend; to make up for; to fill (a vacancy); to supplement |
| 射 | shè | old variant of 射[she4]; to shoot; to launch; to allude to; radio- (chemistry) |
| 破门 | pò mén | to burst or force open a door; to excommunicate sb (from the Roman Catholic Church); to score a goal (in football, hockey etc) |
| 挺 | tǐng | straight; erect; to stick out (a part of the body); to (physically) straighten up; to support; to withstand; outstanding; (coll.) quite; very; classifier for machine guns |
| 进 | jìn | to go forward; to advance; to go in; to enter; to put in; to submit; to take in; to admit; (math.) base of a number system; classifier for sections in a building or residential com… |
| 圈 | quan | to confine; to pen in |
| 土耳其 | Tǔ ěr qí | Turkey |
| 战胜 | zhàn shèng | to prevail over; to defeat; to surmount |
| 索 | suó | rope; to search for; to demand; to exact; to reduce; surname Suo |
| 沃 | wǒ | fertile; to irrigate |
| 锁定 | suǒ dìng | to lock (a door); to close with a latch; to lock into place; a lock; a latch; to lock a computer file (to prevent it being overwritten); to lock (denying access to a computer syste… |
| 席 | xī | mat; seat; banquet; (classifier) |
| 位 | wèi | position; location; place; seat; classifier for people (honorific); classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes); (physics) potential |
| 阿 | ā | prefix used before monosyllabic names, kinship terms etc to indicate familiarity; used in transliteration; (bound form) Afghanistan (abbr. for 阿富汗[A1 fu4 han4]); (bound form) Alban… |
| 蒂 | dǐ | stem (of fruit) |
| 尔 | ěr | variant of 爾|尔[er3]; thus; so; like that; you; thou |
| 卢 | lū | surname Lu |
| 打入 | dǎ rù | to penetrate; to break into (a market, social group etc); to infiltrate (enemy ranks etc); to banish to; to relegate to; to insert; to inject; to crack (an egg) into (a bowl etc) |
| 制胜 | zhì shèng | to win; to prevail; to come out on top |
| 至此 | zhì cǐ | up until now; so far |
| 全部 | quán bù | whole; all |
| 结 | jiē | (of a plant) to produce (fruit or seeds); Taiwan pr. [jie2] |
| 束 | Shù | surname Shu |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 参赛 | cān sài | to compete; to take part in a competition |
| 各 | gè | each; every |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 归属 | guī shǔ | to belong to; to be affiliated to; to fall under the jurisdiction of; a place where one feels that one belongs; one's final destination (where one need look no further) |
| 于 | Yú | surname Yu; (of time or place) in; at; on; (indicating any indirect relation) to; toward; vis-à-vis; with regard to; for; (indicating a source) from; out of; (used in comparison) than; (used i… |
| 日至 | rì zhì | solstice; the winter solstice 冬至 and summer solstice 夏至 |
| 举 | jǔ | variant of 舉|举[ju3]; to lift; to hold up; to cite; to enumerate; to act; to raise; to choose; to elect; act; move; deed |
| 行 | háng | (bound form) row; line; (bound form) line of business; trade; profession; (bound form) commercial firm; (bound form) to rank (first, second etc) among one's siblings (by age); (in … |
| 共有 | gòng yǒu | in total there are ...; to own jointly |
| 支队 | zhī duì | detachment (of troops) |
| 伍 | wú | five (banker numeral); a group; to mingle; surname Wu |
BERLIN, March 31 (Xinhua) – For three full cycles, spanning 12 years, fans have been unable to see the Italian national team on the World Cup stage. In the UEFA playoff final for the 2026 FIFA World Cup held on March 31, Italy lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a penalty shootout, suffering heartbreak once again.
The match took place at Bosnia and Herzegovina’s home stadium. In the 15th minute, Italy took the lead through a goal by Kean, but center-back Bastoni was shown a red card for a reckless tackle in the 41st minute, marking the turning point of the match.
Down to ten men, Italy subsequently retreated into a deep defensive formation, but Bosnia and Herzegovina’s attacks came in waves. Tabakovic equalized to make it 1-1 in the 79th minute. Neither side could break the deadlock in regular time, and extra time also ended scoreless, sending the match to a penalty shootout. Italy’s Pio and Cristante missed their penalties in the first and third rounds respectively. When Bosnia and Herzegovina converted their fourth penalty, Italy’s fate was sealed.
Italy, ranked 12th in the world, has won the World Cup four times in history, most recently in 2006. However, Italy has now been absent from the World Cup for quite some time – their last appearance in the tournament finals dates back to Brazil 2014, where they failed to advance past the group stage.
The Czech Republic also advanced through a penalty shootout on the same day, after drawing 2-2 with Denmark over 120 minutes. The Czech Republic prevailed in the shootout to secure their World Cup finals ticket.
Sweden edged past Poland 3-2 to qualify. The two sides engaged in a tense back-and-forth battle, with Sweden taking the lead twice and Poland equalizing twice. Ultimately, Gyokeres’ follow-up goal in the 88th minute sent Sweden through to the World Cup finals.
Turkey defeated Kosovo 1-0 to secure their World Cup spot, with Akturkoğlu scoring the winning goal in the 53rd minute.
With this, all UEFA World Cup qualifying matches have concluded, with all 16 participating spots now determined.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico will be held from June 11 to July 19, featuring a total of 48 teams.