Berlin (dpa) – European football champion Italy sensationally missed out on participating in the World Cup, and Stefan Kuntz’s dream of Qatar has also burst with Turkey.
Italy surprisingly lost in the playoff semi-finals in Palermo against the blatant outsiders North Macedonia 0-1 (0-0) and, like in 2018, have to watch the finals. For North Macedonia it is now in the playoff final on Tuesday against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portuguese, who won 3-1 (2-0) against Turkey coached by Kuntz.
Sweden continue after extra time
Sweden also remains in the race for a World Cup ticket, beating the Czech Republic 1-0 (0-0) after extra time after a goal by ex-Mainzer Robin Quaison in Stockholm and is now traveling to Poland for the playoff final. The team led by world footballer Robert Lewandowski had progressed without a fight because FIFA had suspended the Russian selection because of the aggressive war against Ukraine.
Austria, on the other hand, missed out on their first appearance at the World Cup since 1998. Captain David Alaba’s team lost 2-1 (0-1) against Wales in Cardiff. The Welsh will have to wait until June for their opponents, however, as Ukraine are scheduled to play their semi-finals against Scotland.
Italy and Turkey fail
Aleksandar Trajkovski (90th minute +2) destroyed all hopes of the Italians for the World Cup ticket with his goal in injury time. The four-time world champion missed the finals for the second time in a row. The appearance of the Squadra Azzurra was anything but ready for the title. The European champions were superior, but too unimaginative in front of the goal. That should pay off. The North Macedonians had already inflicted a surprising home defeat on the German team in the group stage.
“It’s hard to explain. We’re disappointed, broken, devastated. Something was missing again. We’ve made mistakes since September and have now paid for them,” said veteran Giorgio Chiellini after the embarrassment. The “Gazzetta dello Sport” aptly wrote on its homepage: “Disastro Italia”.
For Kuntz, the first defeat in the sixth game as Turkish coach was synonymous with losing the World Cup – and it was particularly bitter. Because Burak Yilmaz missed the possible compensation for the team of the former German U21 coach with a missed penalty five minutes before the end.
Until the break it had looked like a clear thing. Even though superstar Ronaldo failed to shine in his 185th international match, Otavio (15th) and Liverpool striker Diogo Jota (42nd) brought the 2016 European champion one step closer to Qatar in front of 48,010 spectators. Yilmaz then gave the Turks hope again with his connecting goal (65th). Finally, Matheus Nunes made everything clear (90+4).
Bale scores twice for Wales
Gareth Bale was once again reliable in Wales. The part-time worker from Madrid first gave his team the lead with a fantastic free-kick (25′), then followed up with a shot from the turn (51′). Once again, the 100 million man shone for his home country, while he has only made five competitive appearances for Real this season. Austria only came to the connection gate. A shot by Bayern professional Marcel Sabitzer was deflected by Ben Davies (64′). It was bitter for the guests that Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner only hit the crossbar in the early stages (5′).