Gennaro Gattuso wasn’t handed the best of duties when he succeeded Luciano Spalletti as Italy supervisor. The Azzurri had simply been thumped 3-0 in Oslo by Erling Haaland’s rampant Norway, whereas they’d additionally struggled to place away minnows Moldova in Reggio Emilia.
They might enhance beneath the previous World Cup successful midfielder and the targets began flowing extra freely, however a 4-1 dwelling drubbing by Haaland and Co. as soon as once more at San Siro — Italy’s worst dwelling defeat in over 70 years — consigned them to a 3rd straight journey to the playoffs and allow them to know in no unsure phrases simply how distant they’re from being thought of one of many planet’s elite.
Commercial
The Playoffs Loom
Regardless that Italy are but to formally affirm their spot on the World Cup, on-line betting websites are nonetheless considerably massive on their hopes. The favored presently costs them at 35/1, a value shorter than Belgium, Croatia, and the co-hosting Individuals. However first, the playoffs are looming, and Gattuso has a call to make, particularly relating to his hanging choices.
He’s presently holed up someplace in his Milan residence, hunched over a laptop computer, watching grainy Saudi Professional League footage of Mateo Retegui dismantling some hapless Al-Hazem defence. 5 targets in three video games. Numbers don’t lie, he tells himself. Then a defender mistimes a lunge, journeys over the ball, and Retegui slots in with contemptuous ease. Gattuso all of the sudden has a psychological disaster on his arms as soon as once more.
Latest Trauma
Azzurri followers know the trauma intimately by now. Sweden in 2017 — Buffon weeping at 39, an period ending in humiliation because the Scandinavians headed to Russia. North Macedonia in 2022 — Trajkovski’s dagger on the Barbera, essentially the most humiliating evening in post-war Italian soccer. After which final fall, the contemporary wound: , comprehensively outclassed dwelling and away, punted into the playoffs once more like a nation that’s forgotten the way to qualify for something.
Commercial
Three campaigns. Three catastrophes. Sweden. North Macedonia. Norway. Italy is not a sleeping large — she’s a sleepwalker lurching towards a cliff edge, and Bergamo’s Gewiss Stadium on March 26 is the place the sleepwalking both ends or the nation tumbles into an abyss it might by no means climb out of.
The query haunting Gattuso isn’t tactical. It’s existential. When he surveys his hanging choices, he has 4 candidates, none of whom would have began forward of Christian Vieri or Filippo Inzaghi with out critical debate. The Alessandro Del Piero period produced pure goalscorers who devoured playoff stress, however which ones can rating the targets required to finish the Azzurri’s 12-year wait to lastly enterprise again onto that hallowed World Cup turf?
Mateo Retegui
Italy’s most confirmed worldwide striker — 11 targets in 26 caps, capocannoniere with 25 Serie A targets at Atalanta in 2024-25, a real penalty-box predator whose motion off the ball made defenders look amateurish — at 26. He’s not winding down, however regardless of having had a really prolific season, it stays to be seen whether or not the Saudi Professional League is sort of testing sufficient for a striker who will likely be required to make a distinction at a global stage.
BERGAMO, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 05: Mateo Retegui of Italy celebrates with teammates after scoring his group’s second objective throughout the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Estonia at Stadio di Bergamo on September 05, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photograph by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Photos)
Commercial
Right here’s the uncomfortable reality: La Gazzetta dello Sport gained’t fairly print it, however their columnists are already sharpening their knives to put in writing: if Retegui misses a sitter in opposition to Northern Eire, he gained’t be forgiven. His worldwide résumé calls for he begin — you don’t discard 11 worldwide targets — however will he nonetheless be on the identical stage as his teammates in March after spending a number of months in a minor league?
Gianluca Scamacca
At his peak in 2023-24 — 12 targets, six assists, Champions League qualification with Atalanta — he was Italy’s most full No. 9; 195 centimetres of aerial dominance and technical safety that bordered on Ibrahimović-esque audacity. Then the physique betrayed him. ACL tear in August 2024 and a thigh tendon surgical procedure in February 2025. Lastly, a . He’s managed 959 Serie A minutes this season, scoring six targets, however he additionally netted three decisive Champions League targets in eight appearances.
BERLIN, GERMANY – JUNE 29: Gianluca Scamacca of Italy, seems to be dejected after the group’s elimination from the match following the UEFA EURO 2024 spherical of 16 match between Switzerland and Italy at Olympiastadion on June 29, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. (Photograph by Lars Baron/Getty Photos)
Commercial
Atalanta are the one Serie A facet to have earned qualification for the Champions League Spherical of 16, and did so additionally due to the towering striker’s assist. His full health throughout the 2 legs stays unsure, and his worldwide report doesn’t match his membership type, having simply bagged one objective in 22 Italy appearances.
Pio Esposito
Pio Esposito doesn’t bear in mind Del Piero scoring in opposition to Germany and doesn’t carry the scar tissue from Palermo 2022. He doesn’t get up sweating, with visions of Trajkovski. Heck, he was simply eight years previous the final time Italy performed at a World Cup. However at 20 years previous, studying from Lautaro Martínez and Marcus Thuram in a treble-chasing Inter squad, he arrives at this debate unburdened by historical past — which is both his best asset or his best legal responsibility.
MILAN, ITALY – NOVEMBER 16: Pio Esposito of Italy celebrates scoring his group’s first objective throughout the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Norway at San Siro Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photograph by Marco Luzzani/Getty Photos)
Commercial
4 targets and three assists in 294 Serie A minutes. Two targets and two assists within the Champions League. U-19 European champion, U-20 World Cup runner-up — this child has already gained issues with the well-known blue shirt on, greater than we will say about his rivals for a beginning berth.
That defeat to Sweden in qualifying for 2018 occurred with veterans so psychologically paralysed they couldn’t operate. North Macedonia, 4 years later, haemorrhaged expertise that choked. Perhaps fearless youth is precisely the antidote. Or perhaps it’s desperation dressed as inspiration. Beginning Esposito in opposition to Northern Eire is both the boldest choice in latest Azzurri historical past or essentially the most reckless. There’s genuinely no center floor.
Moise Kean
At 25, his 2024-25 renaissance at Fiorentina (19 league targets, real world-class stretches) briefly satisfied everybody the breakthrough had crystallised. Then got here 2025-26: eight targets in 23 Serie A video games, a slight step again after an amazing debut season in Florence.
DORTMUND, GERMANY – MARCH 23: Moise Kean of Italy celebrates scoring his group’s second objective throughout the UEFA Nations League Quarterfinal Leg Two match between Germany and Italy at Soccer Stadium Dortmund on March 23, 2025 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photograph by Stuart Franklin/Getty Photos)
Commercial
His tempo and athleticism make defenders nervous, however his ending hasn’t all the time been correct this season. Will Kean carry out for the Azzurri? Certainly, Italy can’t afford to reply that query in a playoff semifinal, and their head coach has a really critical determination to make. Followers and bettors alike will likely be eagerly ready to see which means he’ll flip.