Never before had Italy failed to qualify for back-to-back World Cups, but with the shock defeat at home to North Macedonia the Azzurri made history in all the wrong ways. Not even a year had passed since Roberto Mancini’s side won Euro 2020 to become European champions, yet they will have to watch the 2022 World Cup from home.
There’s no denying Italy should have had the quality to beat North Macedonia and set up a play-off final meeting against Portugal. Ciro Immobile spurned a number of good opportunities to find the back of the net while North Macedonia scored with their only meaningful effort on goal. On another night, Italy would have progressed comfortably.
Nonetheless, defeat to North Macedonia thrust into focus many of the fundamental issues that have hollowed out Italian soccer in recent times. Many will view Italy’s 2022 World Cup failure as an anomaly, but the anomaly might well have been their triumph at Euro 2020 given they also fell short of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.
Mancini got the best out of his Italy team at Euro 2020. He put in place a system and a structure that supported the talent he had, but even then there were hints of troubles to come. Of the team that started the final against England, five were over the age of 30 and only two were under the age of 25. England, on the other hand, started just two players over the age of 30.
Experience can be extremely useful in international soccer, but Italy look to have tipped over the edge. They are now an ageing group in need of rejuvenation. The problem for Mancini is that he doesn’t have many options to rejuvenate the national team set-up. Italian soccer in 2022 has a youth development problem.
It’s been that way for a while. Many even trace the disconnection between Serie A youth academies and first teams back to the ‘Calciopoli’ match-fixing scandal in the early 2000s, when the entire landscape of Italian soccer shifted. Since then, Italy has lagged well behind the likes of France, Germany, Spain and even England for bringing through youngsters.
Of the top 10 Italians to have played the most minutes in Serie A this season, only two (Guglielmo Vicario and Domenico Berardi) are under the age of. Not a single Italian teenager has played more than 2,000 minutes this season with Italy’s problems illustrated in the number of veteran players still dominating the country’s domestic division.
Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini gave Italy a foundation at Euro 2020 with the veteran pair excelling during the tournament, but they cannot be counted on any longer. Italy need a new defensive basis and a new approach. To date, Mancini has relied on experience as Azzurri manager. Now, he must place an emphasis on youth and the next generation.
There are some exceptions. 24-year-old Federico Chiesa was electric in Italy’s Euro 2020 run, but was unable contribute this year after suffering an ACL injury in January. 22-year-old Alessandro Bastoni is an important member of Inter’s defence while 25-year-old Nicolo Barella is one of the best all-round midfielders in the European game right now. 22-year-old Giacomo Raspadori is also an exceptional talent and destined for the top of Italian soccer.
If Italy are to learn from the mistakes that led to the shock defeat to North Macedonia, these are the sort of players that must form the central pillar of their next generation. Mancini’s team might be European champions, but that counts for very little in the eyes of the Italian media who are already lining up Fabio Cannavaro as the next Azzurri boss if the incumbent can’t do what is required.
Qualification for Euro 2024 will start next year, once the 2022 World Cup is out of the way, and Mancini will need a clear vision of what the Azzurri’s future looks like by then. There is no time to be wasted with Italy required to unpick years of mistakes. A reboot and a rebuild is needed to ensure the national team can compete again at the top level.
A World Cup without Italy will lack something. The Azzurri are true heavyweights of the international game and offer a lot in terms of colour and character. The 2018 Finals missed them and the 2022 tournament will too. But Italy only have themselves to blame for failing to punch their ticket to Qatar. Moves must be made now to ensure they don’t miss out on the 2026 World Cup too.
