Italy have done all this before.
The Azzurri were World Cup regulars – and contenders – until remarkably failing to qualify for the first time since the 1958 tournament when they were beaten by Sweden in the play-offs for Russia 2018.
Of course, Italy feared a repeat when they were consigned to the play-off route again for Qatar 2022, but a potential final against Portugal was surely of greater concern than a home semi with North Macedonia.
Sensationally, however, the visitors stunned the European champions in Palermo, where Aleksandar Trajkovski s 92nd-minute blast secured the unlikeliest of 1-0 wins.
It means Italy are yet again featuring on a list of shock World Cup absentees.
play-offs
FT All over.
— Italy (@Azzur…
Jurgen Klopp was left frustrated after a 2-2 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion, conceding that Liverpool were not good enough in the second half.
The Reds manager saw his team throw away a two-goal lead on Saturday, and they could even have lost it as the Seagulls pushed as hard as the hosts for a winner in the final quarter of the game.
Early goals from Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane were cancelled out by a fantastic strike from Enock Mwepu before the break, and then a second-half equaliser from Leandro Trossard.
Liverpool also had two goals disallowed, with Mane denied from making it 3-0 in the first half by VAR after the ball ricocheted off his arm when closing down Robert Sanchez, while Mohamed Salah saw his strike ruled out for offside, which would h…
Eden Hazard will be considered a legend at Chelsea, who will find it impossible to directly replace the Belgian, according to Didier Drogba.
Hazard left Chelsea earlier this month, making a long-awaited move to LaLiga giants Real Madrid in a deal that could rise to €140million.
The 28-year-old departed Stamford Bridge having scored 21 goals across all competitions last season, helping Chelsea to a third-placed Premier League finish and the Europa League title.
Hazard s departure has come at a difficult time for the Blues, who are currently appealing a transfer ban which would prohibit them from signing players for the next two windows.
Christian Pulisic was brought in from Borussia Dortmund in January before being loaned back to the Bundesliga side for …
Real Madrid have failed in their pursuit of Manchester United s Paul Pogba for the time being, and the Premier League club have now reportedly closed the door on the Frenchman leaving Old Trafford this month.
According to , Real president Florentino Perez had been working on a plan B which included Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur and Donny van de Beek of Ajax, but it appears head coach Zinedine Zidane simply isn t interested in any alternative options. If he can t have Pogba, he ll rather work with the players already at his disposal that was the message he sent to those above him. That, apparently, may mean that Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez could get another chance.
This is not the only point of disagreement between Zidane and Perez, but Zidane had asked for …
Liverpool have made their latest big-statement signing by bringing in Brazil goalkeeper Alisson from Roma for a fee that could rise to €72.5million.
Jurgen Klopp s side reached the Champions League final last term at the expense of Alisson s former club in the semis as the free-scoring Mohamed Salah swept the board in terms of end-of-season awards.
Virgil van Dijk arrived as a club-record signing in January and, following the captures of midfielders Naby Keita, Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho, Alisson becomes the most expensive goalkeeper of all time.
It is a long-held status the 25-year-old takes away from an all-time great, while Ederson s switch to Manchester City last year means Brazil s first and second-choice keepers now occupy spots one and three in the s…
Ander Herrera has declared Manchester United s Antonio Valencia the world s best right-back, claiming that the Ecuadorian is as good as Juventus defender Dani Alves.
Valencia who was brought to United by Alex Ferguson in 2009 has been given a new lease of life at Old Trafford since Jose Mourinho took over as manager, carrying over his fine pre-season form into the Premier League campaign.
And Herrera has no doubts that the 31-year-old is now one of the club s most important players, adding that he believes something special is taking place at Old Trafford.
I know him and have always liked the way he plays, Herrera told MUTV. I think Antonio is one of the best right-backs in the world.
I know he s not a normal right-back because he used to play a…
Revered sporting director Antonio Cordon was frustrated at Monaco in 2017.
Having just seen the club win Ligue 1, it was becoming apparent he had less control over player sales than he previously believed. He quit almost exactly a year after he had joined.
Although the Spaniard had no shortage of offers after departing Stade Louis II, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea among his admirers, he opted for a rather more curious option.
Had a Granada fan been told at the time the highly regarded former Villarreal transfer guru was about to become an influential figure in the second-tier side s future, they d have assumed you d just fallen head-first from a Sierra Nevada peak.
Yet two years on, Cordon has again displayed his brilliance with Granada not on…
Everton picked up their first Premier League win since August after seeing off Fulham 3-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Second-half goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Cenk Tosun secured only a second victory of the league season for the Toffees and ended a run of back-to-back defeats.
The win, which leaves Fulham three points outside the relegation zone, extended Everton s record run of wins at home against Slavisa Jokanovic s side to 22.
Fulham s bright start was not affected by the loss of Timothy Fosu-Mensah to a serious-looking injury eight minutes in, and Andre Schurrle wasted a great chance to put the visitors ahead when he blazed over the bar after being teed up by Ryan Sessegnon.
There was another huge let-off for Everton before half-time, with Sesse…
On Thursday evening at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar, Germany booked a sour-tasting victory over Costa Rica a result which knocked both these teams out of the World Cup.
Going into the clash, Germany had hoped a victory would be enough to see them through to the next round, and that would ve been the case if Spain had managed to beat Japan, or at least get a point. However, it wasn t to be as Japan took the three points from that game and ended up winning the group.
German domination and Costa Rican hope
Throughout the first half, Hansi Flick s men expectedly dominated the match, creating chance after chance while Costa Rica barely managed to hoof the ball off their half of the pitch. Serge Gnabry s perfect header in the 10th minute broke the deadlock, and by that time,…
Diego Costa will end his stand-off with Chelsea and Antonio Conte by returning to Atletico Madrid in January.
The Spain striker helped Atleti to a remarkable LaLiga triumph in 2013-14, having scooped the Copa del Rey the previous season.
His success continued in England, with two Premier League winners medals in three seasons but there has been an inevitability regarding the end of his time at Chelsea for some months after the 28-year-old s relationship with head coach Conte broke down.
Costa is far from the first player to have succumbed to the lure of their old club, with plenty of stars having felt it irresistible to go back to what they know.
But how did they fare in their second spells? Here, we take a look at seven notable stars who were happy to g…