Italy Miss Another World Cup and Lose Their Manager, President and Buffon in Three Days

It started with Gravina asking Gattuso to stay. It ended with all three of them gone.

In the space of 72 hours following Italy’s penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 31, the entire leadership structure of Italian football collapsed. FIGC president Gabriele Gravina resigned. Head of delegation Gianluigi Buffon stepped down. And Gennaro Gattuso, the man Gravina had publicly backed just weeks before, resigned by mutual consent on April 3.

Italy will miss a third consecutive World Cup. That sentence still sounds strange written down. The four-time world champions, the country that gave the game Buffon, Maldini, Pirlo and Del Piero, will not be in North America this summer. Again.

What Happened in Zenica

Italy needed to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the UEFA playoff final to qualify. They took an early lead. Then they lost it. Then they went to penalties. Then they lost those too, 4-1 in the shootout.

Bosnia celebrated. They are going to their first World Cup. Italy’s players walked off the pitch in Zenica knowing the consequences of what had just happened.

The penalty shootout loss confirmed Italy’s third consecutive World Cup absence, following their failure to qualify in 2018 and 2022. Three consecutive tournaments without the Azzurri. Three different managers each time. The same result.

The Triple Resignation

Gravina went first. The FIGC president had overseen two consecutive failed qualifying campaigns. Sports minister Andrea Abodi had already called publicly for a change in leadership before the dust had even settled. Gravina, 72, initially planned to wait for a federation board meeting the following week before deciding his future but reversed that decision quickly. He resigned within 24 hours of the Bosnia defeat.

Buffon followed. The former goalkeeper had served as head of delegation, a senior role within the national team setup that carried significant influence over planning and operations. He stepped down the same day as Gravina.

Then came Gattuso. The Italian federation confirmed his departure by mutual consent on April 3, thanking him for his dedication and passion during nine months in charge.

His statement was honest and short. “With a heavy heart, having failed to achieve the goal we had set ourselves, I consider my time in charge of the national team to be over. The Azzurri shirt is the most precious asset in football, which is why it is right to facilitate future technical assessments with immediate effect. It has been an honour to lead the national team, and to do so with a group of lads who have shown commitment and loyalty to the shirt.”

There was no blame placed on players. No deflection. He took it on himself and walked.

How Gattuso Got There

Gattuso was appointed in June 2025 after Luciano Spalletti was sacked following Italy’s 3-0 defeat to Norway in the opening match of qualifying. It was a desperate move by a federation that had run out of patience and credibility.

Gravina called Gattuso a symbol of Italian football at his unveiling and praised his motivation, professionalism and experience. Those words now carry a different weight.

Gattuso had nine months. He could not fix in nine months what Italian football had been building toward for a decade. The players were not good enough at the decisive moment. The system that produces those players is the deeper problem, and that is not a problem any single manager can solve in less than a year.

Italy have not won the Champions League since Inter Milan in 2010. They lost to Switzerland in Euro 2024. Their top clubs have fallen behind the elite of Spain, England and Germany. The national team results are a symptom, not the disease.

What Comes Next

A vote for a new FIGC president will be held on June 22, with Giovanni Malagò reportedly among the candidates being considered.

Whoever takes the presidency will then need to appoint a new manager, rebuild a squad and begin preparing for Euro 2028 qualification. Italy will also co-host Euro 2032 with Turkey, though that carries its own complications. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin warned that Italy could be stripped of co-hosting rights if stadium infrastructure is not brought up to the required standard in time.

For a country that invented defensive football, produced some of the game’s greatest players and won four World Cups, the current situation is not just disappointing. It is a structural crisis that goes well beyond any single manager or any single qualifying campaign.

Gravina asked Gattuso to stay. Then the result came, and none of that mattered anymore.