Leonardo Bonucci has slammed the World Cup qualifying system as “absurd” and claimed it is “madness” that Italy will not be in Qatar for the tournament later this year.
Italy were beaten 1-0 by North Macedonia in the play-off semi-final last week, just eight months on from becoming European champions. Roberto Mancini’s side will arguably be the biggest team missing from the 2022 World Cup after qualifying was completed on Tuesday night.
Portugal avoided Italy’s fate by beating North Macedonia 2-0 thanks to two goals from Bruno Fernandes in the play-off final in Porto. Meanwhile, Poland overcame Sweden 2-0 to qualify for the tournament from the other European play-off. Senegal beat Egypt in a penalty shoot-out marred by lasers from the crowd, while Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco and Cameroon also secured qualification from Africa.
