The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox.
Good morning! I’m in a joyous Stockholm after Sweden qualified for the World Cup in the last minute of their play-off final, but it’s a rather more muted Wednesday over in Italy.
Coming up:
🤌 Four-time winners fall short
🚨 Another defeat for USMNT
🛟 Can De Zerbi save Spurs?
🕺🏾 Australia prodigy’s moonwalk
Booted out 👢
Ermedin Demirovic, Dzenis Burnic and Tarik Muharemovic celebrate after helping Bosnia defeat Italy (Getty Images)
Bosnia stun Italy to qualify for their first World Cup in 32 years
Manager Gennaro Gattuso was on the verge of tears. Young striker Pio Esposito (main photo) looked utterly lost after missing his shootout penalty. The celebrating Bosnia and Herzegovina fans, meanwhile, unfurled a giant banner of a visa. They are travelling to North America this summer after winning their World Cup play-off final — while opponents Italy, four-time winners of that tournament, are missing out. Again.
It had all appeared, finally, to be going to plan two hours earlier. In front of just 11,000 fans — but a wild atmosphere, including a flare-filled tower block, below — Moise Kean put visitors Italy into the lead. So far, so good.
But centre-back Alessandro Bastoni was sent off and, with Italy 12 minutes from qualification, Bosnia substitute Haris Tabakovic scrambled home a rebound to earn extra time and then penalties.
In the shootout, 20-year-old Esposito and Bryan Cristante missed for Italy, setting up Wisconsin-born Esmir Bajraktarevic to score Bosnia’s decisive penalty.
Bosnia fans wave flares in a building outside the Bilino Polje Stadium (James Horncastle/The Athletic)
Up in smoke
Startlingly, Italy have now failed to qualify for three World Cups in a row — the only former winners to have that unhappy record. Their win in the 2006 edition’s final was the last time they even played a World Cup knockout game.
Full-back Leonardo Spinazzola called it “a nightmare” after Tuesday’s game, but it is also truly remarkable. Italy are a football powerhouse — they even won Euro 2020 amid this run of global-level failures. Gabriele Gravina, head of the Italian Football Federation, said it was “a profound crisis”, but added that he had asked Gattuso to stay on.
“My future? It’s not important right now,” Gattuso said. “It hurts, it’s a shame.”
For Italy, the pain shows no sign of going away.
What else did you miss?
Italy’s defeat came in one of four European play-off finals. I was at a thriller in Stockholm, where Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres eventually scored in the scramble to end all goalmouth scrambles and give Sweden a 3-2 win against Poland.
Denmark are another surprise European nation to miss out, having qualified for the previous four major tournaments, but they lost on penalties in the Czech Republic.
And Turkey broke the hearts of Kosovo, the world’s second-newest nation, who have never qualified for a major tournament. Instead, for the first time in 24 years, Turkey will play in a World Cup, becoming the final team in the United States’ group. More on that later.
What comes next?
As their English manager Graham Potter told his Sweden players post-match last night: “The World Cup, baby.”
The qualifiers are over and the line-up is set (above). The 48 competing sides will play a final round of warm-up games before the big kick-off at Mexico City Stadium, more commonly known as Estadio Azteca, on June 11, when co-hosts Mexico face South Africa.
With the bracket finalised, The Athletic’s writers have been predicting the outcomes. They say Frenchman Kylian Mbappe is the favourite to win the Golden Boot, think reigning champions Argentina may disappoint, and pick France or Spain to win it all. Do you agree?
News round-up 🗞️
FIFA president Gianni Infantino insists that Iran will play at the World Cup after meeting their players. Iran’s participation is uncertain due to the ongoing conflict, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying last month that they should consider “their own life and safety” before competing in his country this summer.
- The play-offs fun was not only being had in Europe. DR Congo are also back in football’s biggest tournament for the first time since 1974. They overcame Jamaica in Guadalajara…
- … before Iraq ended their 40-year wait, beating Bolivia 2-1 in Monterrey to complete this World Cup’s 48-team line-up.
- England’s final Wembley game before the tournament went poorly, as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Japan. Without Harry Kane, England looked toothless — and are yet to beat a team in the world’s top 20 under coach Thomas Tuchel.
And back in the club game, Napoli are considering suspending Romelu Lukaku after the striker missed training. He had chosen to rehab an injury back home in Belgium rather than at his Italian team’s training ground.
Work in progress
That Bruno Fernandes back heel to set up Francisco Trincão 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/Jk7QATdnjw
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 31, 2026
USMNT lose again, but Pulisic is optimistic
If the USMNT had to lose their final game before Mauricio Pochettino announces his World Cup squad on May 26, at least it came via two spectacular Portugal goals rather than a poor performance.
Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic had early chances last night for the hosts, before a sublime backheel from Bruno Fernandes took out two American defenders and set up Francisco Trincao (above). In the second half, it was Joao Felix’s turn (below), chesting down a corner and firing in off the post from outside the box.
João Félix na gaveta 🔥
Mais uma assistência de Bruno Fernandes 🤷♂️#sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #JogodePreparação #EUA #Portugal pic.twitter.com/DtaM7cDx0P
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) April 1, 2026
After a five-match unbeaten run, the World Cup co-hosting U.S. have now been comfortably beaten in successive games by top-class European opposition. They were routed 5-2 by Belgium on Saturday, too, but Pulisic is “taking a lot of positives” from these two matches. He added, “We’re a lot closer than it may seem.”
Pulisic might be right, but they will be wary of Turkey, who became the fourth, final, and possibly strongest member of the USMNT’s World Cup group. Their match at SoFi Stadium, known as Los Angeles Stadium during the tournament, on June 25 could be pivotal.
De Zerbi confirmed
Roberto De Zerbi, the former Brighton & Hove Albion head coach, is back in England (Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
New head coach has seven games to keep Spurs in the Premier League
Tuesday was naturally dominated by the international game, but another drama has been playing out in north London.
Just one point above the relegation zone with seven games left, Tottenham Hotspur’s decision to appoint Roberto De Zerbi as their third head coach of the season is a gamble — the combustible Italian has a unique tactical approach, and his players usually need time to adapt to his demands.
Three official supporters’ groups have also opposed his appointment due to De Zerbi’s public support for striker Mason Greenwood when they were together at French side Marseille, his previous employers.
De Zerbi is the opposite of a firefighter, as Jack Pitt-Brooke writes, but the 46-year-old has been in Tottenham’s thinking for some time. He was considered in February after Thomas Frank was sacked, but the timing was not quite right for De Zerbi, having just left Marseille.
Marco Silva was another name on Spurs’ shortlist, but there was never any indication Fulham would sanction the move. So De Zerbi it is — these final seven games could land him in infamy.
Around TAFC 🔄
- At Manchester United, Michael Carrick is doing a far better job as interim head coach than anyone could have expected. These stats show how he has evolved the team in just three months.
- The contracts of Liverpool’s footballing leadership are beginning to expire. It has led to questions over the long-term plan of the club’s U.S. owners at Fenway Sports Group.
- Play-off semi-finals losers Wales and Northern Ireland met in a Cardiff friendly last night — the match nobody wanted to play.
- Most clicked in Tuesday’s TAFC: Marc Cucurella doesn’t hold back on Chelsea.
Catch a match 📺
Selected games (kick-offs ET/UK time, all Paramount+/Disney+)
Women’s Champions League quarter-finals, second legs (first leg scores in brackets): Bayern Munich (3) vs Manchester United (2), 12.45pm/5.45pm; Chelsea (1) vs Arsenal (3), 3pm/8pm — also BBC in the UK.
And finally…
If you are going to bring your own glove to impersonate Michael Jackson, your moonwalk really needs to be better than this. Australia winger Nestory Irankunda celebrated with a dance after scoring their fourth goal against Curacao on Tuesday — complete with a hip thrust that would probably have seen him draw a penalty flag in the NFL.
Irankunda will likely start against the USMNT in Seattle this summer. Do we reckon he has anything lined up if he scores in that one? A cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit, maybe? A heart shape in the penalty box? At just 20, there’s time for his dance moves to improve.
