This past summer, it seemed like Italy was back as a global soccer power with the embarrassment of missing the 2018 World Cup far in the rearview mirror. The Azzurri won European championship in penalties against England at Euro 2020 (played in 2021). They shot up to No. 4 on the FIFA rankings.
And despite missing out on automatic qualification to the 2022 World Cup, Italy had a relatively favorable play-off path with North Macedonia awaiting in the semifinals. Well, Italy learned a hard lesson on Thursday about overlooking opponents because North Macedonia just made Italy miss its second straight World Cup.
With the score tied at 0-0 in the 92nd minute, North Macedonia’s goal kick deflected perfectly to Aleksandar Trajkovski who scored from distance.
NORTH MACEDONIA!!! ONE OF THE GREAT UPSETS OF ALL TIME 🤯
AS IT STANDS, ITALY ARE OUT OF THE WORLD CUP! pic.twitter.com/DBRBcUhZC5
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 24, 2022
Just like that, the European champions were out of the World Cup while North Macedonia could qualify for its first-ever World Cup with a win over Portugal (a huge ask, but they did just beat Italy).
When the final whistle sounded, Italy was understandably demoralized.
WOW. ITALY MISS OUT ON BACK TO BACK WORLD CUPS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/zyBiJVxnFM
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 24, 2022
Heartbreak for Italy 💔 pic.twitter.com/ZQvGV3UA0c
— ESPN+ (@ESPNPlus) March 24, 2022
The rest of the sports world was shocked. North Macedonia did it!