ROME (AP) — The first time was considered a fluke. The second was treated as a crisis. Now, with Italy failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, it has become almost expected for the once-proud soccer nation.
The four-time champion’s penalty shootout loss to 66th-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina in the qualifying playoffs comes after the Azzurri were eliminated at the same stage by Sweden ahead of the 2018 World Cup and by North Macedonia in 2022.
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A broken soccer ball is pictured on a street in Rome, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italy's Francesco Pio Esposito reacts 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, from left, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nicolò Barella and coach Gennaro Gattuso react during the 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)
A broken soccer ball is pictured on a street in Rome, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A front-page editorial in the Gazzetta dello Sport on Wednesday labeled the latest ouster “The third apocalypse," noting “there’s no longer a feeling of shock or an unexpected catastrophe. It’s becoming the norm.”
The issues in Italian soccer extend beyond the national team.
The last Italian club to win the Champions League was Inter Milan in 2010; while in this season’s continental competition, all four Italian clubs were eliminated before the quarterfinals.
“It’s like we’re not ready for the big match. We’re not ready when it matters … when you need to give that extra … when you have the pressure on,” Salvatore Corso, a 34-year-old Italian who works in a tech startup, said after watching the Italy defeat at a pub in Rome on Tuesday.
Italian politicians demanded an immediate explanation from Sports Minister Andrea Abodi and there were calls for Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina to resign.
“Unfortunately the third consecutive elimination from the World Cup is not an April Fool’s joke,” said former Italian Premier Matteo Renzi. “It’s a sign that Italian soccer has failed. Soccer isn’t just entertainment in our country; it’s part of our culture and national identity.”
Between the every-four-years failures, the national team gets neglected.
One Italy coach after another has lobbied unsuccessfully for more training camps outside the pre-set FIFA international breaks.
Under pressure from TV rights holders, Serie A consistently refuses to move up matches to give national team players more time to rest before Italy games — as evidenced when a Fiorentina-Inter Milan game featuring multiple Azzurri was held on the Sunday night before the training camp opened for these playoffs hours later on a Monday.
With the failures piling up, Italy’s revered coaches don’t appear to want the national team job.
Roberto Mancini left his position in charge of the Azzurri before the 2024 European Championship to take over Saudi Arabia’s national team.
Gian Piero Ventura, who directed Italy during the defeat to Sweden in 2017, never coached a major club.
When Luciano Spalletti was fired after Italy lost its opening qualifier to Norway last year, Claudio Ranieri turned down an offer to replace him and the much less experienced Gennaro Gattuso was hired instead.
Gravina is still holding onto his job after also surviving the qualifying elimination for the 2022 World Cup.
“Next week we will make much deeper reflections on the situation,” Gravina said, hinting that he could call for a new election for the country’s top soccer position. “There are a lot of evaluations to consider.”
Associated Press writer David Biller contributed to this report.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
A broken soccer ball is pictured on a street in Rome, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italy's Francesco Pio Esposito reacts 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, from left, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nicolò Barella and coach Gennaro Gattuso react during the 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)
A broken soccer ball is pictured on a street in Rome, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran hit an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait’s airport on Wednesday while airstrikes battered Tehran — an unrelenting tempo hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was nearly ready to wind down the war.
Trump, who is scheduled to address the nation later in the day, said he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks once he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon — even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire.
That raised the possibility that the U.S. could withdraw without any guarantee from Iran that it would stop bombing its Gulf Arab neighbors or release its grip on the crucial Strait of Hormuz. A fifth of the world’s traded oil passes through the strait in peacetime and Tehran’s stranglehold, along with its strikes on energy infrastructure in the region, has caused oil prices to skyrocket, with far-reaching consequences for the global economy. Even if the strait were to reopen quickly, some effects like higher food prices could persist for months or longer.
It’s also not clear what Israel, which began bombing Iran alongside the U.S. on Feb. 28, would do if the U.S. pulls out without a deal. It also leaves open the question of what Iran might do with the highly enriched uranium still in its stockpiles.
Trump’s comments offered another mixed signal from the American leader who has offered shifting objectives for the war and repeatedly said it could be over soon while also threatening to widen the conflict. Thousands of additional U.S. troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and speculation abounds about the purpose of their deployment.
Just days ago, Trump warned that the U.S. would attack Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strait by April 6. He has also threatened to attack Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.
But on Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the security of ships passing through Hormuz.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting.
“You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as oil prices have skyrocketed, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other goods. The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was up more than 40% since the start of the war, trading at more than $103 a barrel on Wednesday.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, including a demand for the strait to be reopened and for is nuclear program to be rolled back.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. Its own five-point response includes retaining sovereignty over the strait.
In the interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”
He warned against any U.S. attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”
A cruise missile slammed into an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. The 21-member crew of the tanker, contracted by state-owned QatarEnergy, was evacuated and no casualties were reported.
A fully-loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.
In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when he was hit by debris from an intercepted drone in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.
Bahrain sounded two alerts for incoming missiles, while Kuwait’s state-run KUNA news agency said a drone hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a large fire.
Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia, and air raid sirens sounded in Israel though there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
An airstrike on Tehran, meanwhile, appeared to have hit the former U.S. Embassy compound, which has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since American diplomats were held hostage there in 1979.
Witnesses said buildings outside the massive compound had their windows blown out and that it appears the strike happened inside the walled facility.
Israel also said it hit a plant in Iran producing fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. Israel and the United States have alleged in recent years that Iran was experimenting with using fentanyl in chemical weapons.
Iran acknowledged a strike Tuesday on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs.” Hospitals use fentanyl to treat severe pain but it can also be fatal.
In Lebanon, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
A young girl is comforted by her father and Israeli soldiers as they take cover in a bomb shelter during air raid sirens warning of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People inspect the site of an Israeli strike amid debris and damaged vehicles in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man feeds stray cats in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Firefighters and rescue workers work at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A police vehicle is seen through a shattered windshield at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Two men ride scooters past charred debris at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
