Gennaro Gattuso Looks To Scale 'Everest' As Italy Gear Up For Bosnia Qualifiers Showdown

Last Updated:March 30, 2026, 15:38 IST

Italy, who missed qualification for the last two World Cups in Russia and Qatar, can't afford to miss the flight to North America.

Four-time FIFA World Cup winners Italy, look to secure their place at the 2026 edition of the event slated to be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, with a win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup qualifier.

Italy, who missed qualification for the last two World Cups in Russia and Qatar, can’t afford to miss the flight to North America.

Italy will travel to Bilino Polje Stadium with the pressure of punching their ticket to the quadrennial spectacle for the first time since 2014, and if the famously rowdy atmosphere of the ground wasn’t enough pressure already, the Azzuris gave Bosnia yet more reason to go for the win after certain players of the Italian squad, especially full-back Federico Dimarco, celebrated Bosnia’s win over Wales on penalties in the match leading up to their encounter wildly.

World Cup-winning goalkeeper and Italian legend Dino Zoff thought it wasn’t a good idea from the Italian defender to increase the pressure on the team with the antics, which could come across as disrespectful, something that Dimarco denies attempting.

“It wasn’t a good thing to do because it will just further fire up our opponents, I would have behaved differently," Zoff said.

Dimarco also noted that the Azzuris weren’t being arrogant as certain claims state them out to be, and reasoned that they couldn’t afford to be arrogant when they haven’t made it to the two World Cups prior to the upcoming edition.

“I’ve heard people say we were arrogant. There’s really no reason to be, we’ve missed the last two World Cups," said Dimarco.

To pile further pressure on the Italian faithful, the appointment of Clement Turpin, who was the referee during Italy’s shocking defeat to North Macedonia in the qualifier of the previous iteration of the quadrennial, has been named as the man in the middle for their outing in Bosnia.

All the omens aside, nobody can hide behind excuses when the whistle goes at the hostile Bilino Polje as Italy and Bosnia vie for the same prize, powered by different objectives.

News sports football Gennaro Gattuso Looks To Scale 'Everest' As Italy Gear Up For Bosnia Qualifiers Showdown

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