Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso has reignited a global football storm from the heart of Europe, claiming FIFA’s expanded World Cup slots for Africa and other regions are deliberately punishing the continent that once ruled the game.
The former AC Milan midfield enforcer, known for his no-nonsense playing style, didn’t mince words after his side’s gritty 2-0 victory over minnows Moldova on Thursday night, labeling the system “unfair” and calling for a drastic overhaul to protect Europe’s dominance.
“In my day, the best runners-up went straight to the World Cup, now the rules have changed,”he said insisting that the structure puts added pressure on non-top-ranked nations.
Gattuso’s frustration boiled over as Italy, the four-time world champions and current ninth-ranked nation in FIFA’s standings, teeter on the brink of yet another qualifying catastrophe.
Despite securing six wins from seven Group I matches – a tally that would have guaranteed progression in previous cycles – the Azzurri now face an almost impossible scenario: a 9-0 demolition of group leaders Norway on Sunday in Oslo to snatch automatic qualification for the expanded 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Anything less, and they’ll be condemned to the European playoffs for the third consecutive campaign, a fate that still haunts fans from the humiliating defeats to Sweden in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2021.
The Moldova match in Parma was a professional affair, with goals from emerging talents Federico Dimarco and Lorenzo Pellegrini sealing the points against a side already resigned to the foot of the table.
Yet, the mood in the Italian camp soured rapidly as news filtered through of Norway’s emphatic 4-1 rout of Estonia earlier that evening. Erling Haaland’s hat-trick heroics extended the Scandinavians’ perfect record to seven straight victories, including their shocking 3-0 home upset over Italy back in September – a result that derailed Luciano Spalletti’s tenure and paved the way for Gattuso’s appointment in June.
With goal difference now the cruel arbiter, Gattuso – who has won all five of his matches in charge, including a 3-0 thumping of Israel and a 2-1 thriller against Belgium – could barely contain his exasperation.
“We’ve won six out of seven games, and we’re still fighting for our lives? You’d have to ask the people who make the groups and the rules about that,” he fumed, his trademark scowl deepening.
“Look at 1990 and 1994 – there were two African teams [actually three in ’94: Cameroon, Morocco, and Nigeria], and now there are nine,” Gattuso declared, his voice rising. “It keeps expanding, and it’s making direct qualification harder for the best teams in Europe. If we look at South America, where six out of 10 go directly and the seventh gets a playoff, I’m annoyed. Our path is much more complicated. The system needs changes.”
This isn’t uncharted territory for the Azzurri as the ghosts of 2018 and 2022 linger large. Italy may miss out on the 2026 World Cup.