Coach Gattuso not interested in talking about his future after Italy miss out on World Cup again

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said it is not the time to talk about his future despite the Azzurri failing to qualify for a third straight World Cup.

Even if Gattuso hasn’t made up his mind whether to stay or not, the Italian soccer federation gave a clear sign it would like him to remain on Tuesday.

Four-time World Cup winner Italy lost a penalty shootout at 66th-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European playoffs on Tuesday, after playing most of the match with 10 men.

“I’m not interested at all in talking about my future today,” Gattuso said. “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.”

Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively, in the qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups.

Gattuso was hired last June to replace the fired Luciano Spalletti, with Italy’s World Cup qualifying hopes already flagging again.

He was given a contract until the end of this summer’s World Cup, with an automatic renewal until 2028 if Italy reached the tournament in North America.

“I have to praise Gattuso. I think he’s been a great coach, he is a great coach, I’ve asked him to stay on in charge of these players,” Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina said.

However, whether Gravina himself should remain is also up for debate and he said he has already called for a federation council meeting next week to evaluate matters.

Gravina has overseen two sets of disappointing World Cup qualifiers after taking charge in 2018. He replaced Carlo Tavecchio, who quit after Italy failed to reach the 2018 World Cup.

There had already been calls for Gravina's resignation but some fans see the problem as running even deeper.

“I feel really bad, the system is rotten, the football system in Italy is rotten. Like, it’s not possible. A country which is made for football and lives for football and now, like, everything is rotten,” said 30-year-old Federico Barbieri, outside a bar in Rome.

“We knew that the team has its limits but ... not going to the World Cup three times in a row? Sweden, North Macedonia and Bosnia. What else can I say?”

Not every Italy coach has paid for the Azzurri’s failure to reach the World Cup.

Gian Piero Ventura was fired after Italy lost to Sweden but his replacement, Roberto Mancini, kept his job despite Italy’s shock loss to North Macedonia in 2022.

That came just eight months after Mancini led the team to the European Championship title and the federation decided to stick with the coach who revitalized the national team.

Mancini surprisingly resigned just over a year later — going on to become Saudi Arabia coach two weeks later — and was replaced by Spalletti.

But Spalletti, who oversaw a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, got just one World Cup qualifier in charge before he was fired, with Gattuso coming in.

Tuesday's defeat added more misery for Italy’s once-proud national team, which won the World Cup four times.

“I grew up with an Italy that always came in the top four at the World Cup," said 56-year-old building contractor Roberto Silvi. "I’ve seen Italy as world champion twice, and close another couple times.

"I took Italy’s qualifications for granted and now it seems like a nightmare to me. I don’t even believe it. The Italy that misses a World Cup is outside of the world. The Italy that misses three, if they had told me, I never would have believed it.”

AP's David Biller contributed from Rome.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Italy's Pio Esposito reacts after missing a penalty kick during a World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Italy players react during a penalty shootout during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso gestures from the touchline during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Italy's Marco Palestra, left, and Leonardo Spinazzola console each other after losing a penalty shootout during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Italy's coach Gennaro Gattuso walks off the pitch after losing in a World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging near their records Wednesday as oil prices fall and ease the pressure on households and businesses worldwide.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% below its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:56 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

Stocks of companies with big fuel bills helped lead the way on hopes that lower oil prices will remove a big drag on their profits. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings climbed 5.7%, and United Airlines rallied 7.3%. Delta Air Lines rose 3.7% and is on track to set an all-time high.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.1% to $95.48 after the ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to hold despite the U.S. military launching what it called “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell even more, 4.2%, to $89.69 on hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf for deliveries again.

Stocks have been able to run to records despite the painful inflation and uncertainty caused by high oil prices largely because companies have reported surprisingly strong profits for the start of 2026, and the forecast is for them to continue.

Bath & Body Works rallied 11.2%, and Abercrombie & Fitch climbed 11.8% after both reported bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That's even as U.S. consumers continue to say they're feeling discouraged about the economy and inflation.

Lululemon Athletica rose 3.6% after reaching a deal with its founder, Chip Wilson, where it will add a former chief marketing officer of ESPN and a former co-CEO of On to its board of directors.

On the losing side of Wall Street was Dick's Sporting Goods, which dropped 4.9% despite delivering a profit for the latest quarter that edged past expectations. Analysts pointed to how much profit it wrung out of each $1 in revenue, which some called a bit weak.

Oil-and-gas stocks also sank, hurt by the dropping prices for crude. Exxon Mobil fell 1.4%, and Chevron slipped 0.8%. Halliburton dropped 3% to bring its gain for the year so far back toward 40%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after falling oil prices took pressure off inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.48% from 4.50% late Tuesday and from 4.67% roughly a week ago.

It’s a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. South Korea's Kospi was one of the world's best performers and jumped 2.3% after SK Hynix, which is a big beneficiary of the artificial-intelligence boom, soared 9.3%.

A day before, Micron Technology surged to become the latest Big Tech company to be worth more than $1 trillion on AI excitement. Its stock has more than tripled already in 2026, and analysts at UBS said Tuesday it could soar even more because of how fundamentally AI has improved demand for computer memory.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Trader Edward Curran, left, and specialist Meric Greenbaum, center, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)