ROME (AP) 鈥� Italy won’t get a chance at redemption for Roberto Baggio鈥檚 miss in the 1994 World Cup final at the Rose Bowl.
isn鈥檛 even going back to North America for this year鈥檚 tournament after in the qualifying playoffs.
It鈥檚 the third straight World Cup that Italy will miss after getting eliminated at the same stage by ahead of the 2018 World Cup and by in 2022.
Here鈥檚 a look at five reasons why the Azzurri continue to struggle:
Del Piero and Totti long gone
Compared to the title-winning 2006 Italy squad that featured standouts like Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti and Andrea Pirlo, there haven鈥檛 been Italian players of that caliber for years.
The most expensive player on the current squad is midfielder , who was purchased by Newcastle in 2023 for about 80 million euros ($93 million).
The only other world-class player is Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The starting strikers are Argentine-born Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean of Fiorentina.
Serie A is now a retirement destination
The Italian league was considered the best in the world in the 1980s and 1990s when the likes of Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit came to play in the primes of their careers. It鈥檚 where Kaka won the Ballon d鈥橭r award with AC Milan in 2007 鈥� the last Italy-based player to receive the honor.
These days, ageing standouts like 40-year-old (at Milan) and 39-year-old (Cremonese) come to Serie A to conclude their careers.
So without international stars, the league鈥檚 level has dropped and that has a trickle-down effect on the national team.
Juventus, which used to provide the backbone for Italy鈥檚 squad, hasn鈥檛 won Serie A since 2020. And there wasn鈥檛 a single Milan player on the playoff squad.
Tennis taking over with Jannik Sinner
Inspired by accomplishments, tennis is encroaching on . Hordes of kids are gravitating to tennis instead of the traditional pastime of kicking a soccer ball around on a street.
In 2025, 21.6 million Italians said they were soccer fans and 19.9 million said they watched tennis and padel, according to Nielsen Fun Insights.
Italy is also finding success in Formula 1 with 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli winning the last two races.
And the host country is coming off a record performance at the .
鈥淭hese things go in cycles,鈥� Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said last week. 鈥淲hen I see us winning in other sports it gets me motivated. It makes me feel pride. 鈥� Right now our history tells us that we鈥檙e struggling.鈥�
No song and cheer
Apart from when it reaches the latter stages of major tournaments, Italy鈥檚 national team doesn鈥檛 inspire much interest at home and has no organized fans.
Whereas every professional club in Italy has an organized fan base or 鈥渦ltras鈥� that supports its team with chants and scarves, the Azzurri are not backed by song or cheer on a consistent basis.
Gattuso preferred to play last week鈥檚 playoff semifinal in Bergamo鈥檚 23,500-seat stadium rather than the much larger San Siro because he noticed that Milan and Inter fans whistled at players from opposing clubs during a loss to Norway in Milan in November.
鈥淎t the first errant pass you start hearing the whistles,鈥� Gattuso said.
Milan and Rome stadiums still in planning stages
Italy is also far behind other European leagues in terms of building new soccer stadiums.
from the city so they can tear it down and build a new stadium in time for the 2032 European Championship that Italy is co-hosting with Turkey.
Meanwhile, Roma is in the final stages of obtaining the necessary permits to build its own arena after more than a decade of delays so it can move out of the Stadio Olimpico.
Of Italy鈥檚 major clubs, only Juventus currently owns and operates a modern stadium.
The lack of club-owned stadiums means that teams can鈥檛 earn enough to compete with wealthy rivals from abroad 鈥� which weighs down Serie A and affects the national team.
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