Gary Lineker declared Italy have suffered an "almighty and devastating fall" after they failed to reach the 2022 World Cup, just eight months after winning Euro 2020.
The Azzurri were huge favourites to advance to the final qualifying stage but suffered a shocking loss at home to North Macedonia on Thursday night. Jorginho missed a penalty and Aleksandar Trajkovski struck in stoppage time to send the visiting bench into frenzy and leave his nation one victory away from their first ever World Cup appearance.
Italy's defeat means they have not participated at the tournament since 2014 and raises questions of Roberto Mancini 's future as manager. Few would have predicted they would fail to advance from a group containing Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania in the wake of their triumph over England at Wembley last summer.
