Italy misses the World Cup again but Portugal, Wales and Sweden reach the playoffs
Issued on: Modified:
Paris (AFP) – Reigning European champions Italy will miss a second straight World Cup after losing to a dramatic stoppage time goal against Northern Macedonia on Thursday, but Portugal, Wales and Sweden all made it through to the qualifying finals.
Four-time World Cup winners Italy were shocked in Palermo when Aleksandar Trajkovski – who used to play club football in the Sicilian city – shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma from a distance in the second minute of overtime to give Northern Macedonia an incredible 1-0 victory.
There was no time after that for Italy to recover and they will again be absent from the World Cup in Qatar after also not qualifying for the 2018 tournament in Russia when they lost in a playoff against Sweden.
It was a traumatic experience for a nation that has previously been to all the tournaments since 1958, and this failure is all the more remarkable given that they were crowned European Champions less than nine months ago.
The success of Roberto Mancini’s team came as they stood at a world record in 37 games unbeaten, but four draws in the last five qualifiers last autumn led them to finish second in their group after Switzerland, exposing them to the dangers of the playoffs. again.
Northern Macedonia, the Balkan nation with only two million people, held Italy to a draw in Turin in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and beat Germany away in this campaign before appearing at their debut European Championships last year.
Criminal missions cost Turkey
They are now going to Porto to face Portugal next Tuesday, after the European Championship 2016 winners defeated Turkey 3-1 at the Estadio do Dragao, albeit only after Burak Yilmaz missed a decisive late penalty for the guests.
The home team was on a cruise thanks to goals in the first half by the Brazilian-born midfielder Otavio and Liverpool forward Diogo Jota.
But Turkey’s veteran skipper Yilmaz pulled back a goal in the 65th minute and created a tense finish.
Turkey were then awarded a late penalty when a foul on Enes Unal was discovered by the German referee after a VAR review, but Yilmaz put the goal kick over the crossbar and Matheus Nunes secured Portugal’s victory in stoppage time.
Turkey has not participated in the World Cup since third in Japan and South Korea in 2002.
Portugal have not missed the tournament since 1998 and, at the age of 37, live Cristiano Ronaldo’s dream of a world championship.
Ball of brilliance
Meanwhile, Gareth Bale was in inspiring form when his stay secured a 2-1 victory for Wales against Austria in Cardiff.
Bale has only played five times for his club Real Madrid this season, and only twice since August, but the Wales captain started at Cardiff City Stadium and scored from a fantastic free kick in the 25th minute.
He then struck again, with a fantastic hit over goalkeeper Heinz Lindner and into the far corner, to double the lead six minutes after half time.
Wales, who are bidding to qualify for their first World Cup since 1958, then held on after Austria reduced the deficit in the 64th minute when Marcel Sabitzer’s shot bounced off Ben Davies.
Robert Page’s team will be at home in the play-off final but will have to wait until at least June for that, with the ongoing war in Ukraine meaning their away match against Scotland remains on ice for the time being.
Sweden set up a playoff final against Poland next week after an extension of Robin Quaison gave them a 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic in Solna.
The quarter-finalists in 2018 had Sweden have patience before beating a Czech team that owed its place in the playoffs to its performance in the UEFA Nations League last.
Saudi Arabia-based Quaison scored in the 110th minute and finished after a one-two with Alexander Isak.
Poland said goodbye to the play-off final after future opponents Russia were suspended from all international competition until further notice after the invasion of Ukraine.
Scotland and Poland drew 1-1 in a friendly in Glasgow, where Kieran Tierney gave the home side the lead just for Krzysztof Piatek to equalize with a stoppage time penalty.
© 2022 AFP