The Italian team , who were absent from the last two World Cups, had a disastrous start to the qualifying campaign for next year 's World Cup, with an embarrassing 0-3 defeat to Norway.

The disastrous opening performance made the Italians worried about the worst scenario: the Azzurri would miss the World Cup for the third consecutive time! Because it was only their first match, Italy temporarily ranked 4th in Group I, 9 points behind Norway, who had played 3 matches.

Luciano Spalletti IMAGO.jpg
Coach Luciano Spalletti's reign ended after less than 2 years with the Italian national team. Photo: IMAGO

That made the country's Football Federation officials take immediate action: fire the head coach.

Latest information from the Italian press, coach Luciano Spalletti confirmed that he will leave his position after the 2026 World Cup qualifying match, Italy vs Moldova (at 1:45 a.m. on June 10).

He added that he had received a notice of “dismissal” from the Federation after the Italy 0-3 Norway match.

“ We spoke last night and they told me that I would be relieved of my duties as coach of the Italian national team. I am very sorry about this.

I want to stay and change the situation for the better. But if the Federation has decided so, I accept it. I will terminate my contract after the match between Italy and Moldova .”

Thus, coach Spalletti left the 'hot seat' of the Italian national team less than 2 years since being appointed to replace Roberto Mancini in August 2023.

He and the team prepared for the EURO 2024 campaign but did not achieve the expected results - being eliminated in the round of 16 (lost 0-2 to Switzerland).

Italy returned to a promising start in the Nations League, beating France, Israel and Belgium but ultimately finished second in the group stage, before losing to Germany in the quarter-finals.

According to sources from Italy, there are currently two leading candidates emerging to replace coach Spalletti: Stefano Pioli and Claudio Ranieri. Coach Pioli is considered to have more potential, because he is preparing to part ways with Al-Nassr, while the 'welder' after a temporary period of leading AS Roma is now moving to an advisory role for the team.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tuyen-italia-lo-lai-lo-world-cup-lap-tuc-sa-thai-hlv-spalletti-2409434.html