Italy failed to qualify for the third consecutive World Cup. "The Azzurri" lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties.
The match ended 1:1 after regular time and extra time. Moise Kean opened the scoring in the 15th minute, and Haris Tabakovic equalized in the 79th minute. It came down to penalties, in which Esposito missed the goal and Brian Cristante hit the post, while the hosts were flawless. The Italians played the entire second half with a man less after Alessandro Bastoni received a red card in the 41st minute.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will participate in the World Cup for the second time in their history after 2014. The hosts dominated most of the match and created many chances, but mistakes and excellent interventions by Gianluigi Donnarumma did not allow for more goals. At the World Cup this summer, they will be in Group "B" along with one of the hosts Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
The match was played in a great atmosphere at the "Bilino Polje" stadium in Zenica. The surrounding blocks looked as if they were lit by the many torches. Among the spectators in the stands were tennis legend Novak Djokovic and UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
The Italians tried to take control from the start, but it quickly became clear that this would not happen. In the third minute, there was danger in front of Donnarumma. The visitors' defense acted chaotically. Calafiori's attempt to clear sent the ball to Locatelli, after which the ball went out for a corner kick. The "Azure" had more possession of the ball, but the home team's attacks looked much more dangerous. The first accurate shot of the match came in the seventh minute and was the work of Demirovic, but it did not make things difficult for Donnarumma.
After the first minutes, Gattuso's team had a good period in which they organized several attacks. In the 15th minute, the visitors received a gift from goalkeeper Nikola Vasil. He kicked the ball, but it fell to the feet of Barella, who immediately found Keane, and the striker opened the score with a nice shot. Bosnia tried to respond quickly and played more aggressively. After a few attempts, Basic shot a powerful shot, which Donnarumma managed. The goalkeeper had to intervene in another situation, and Retegi shot at the other goal, but without much difficulty for Vasil.
The defense of the "azurri" had to be constantly on the alert, as the home team's attempts to attack were frequent. In the 35th minute, Memic got a chance to shoot with a header, but it was not accurate enough. A little later, Demirević was released after a cross from Bayraktarević. The Stuttgart striker was in a good position, but his header sent the ball wide of the goal.
Shortly before the break, Italy complicated the situation. Donnarumma sent the ball towards the center of the field, but the visitors' defense was pulled far forward and when the ball was aimed at Memic, he broke away alone against the goalkeeper. Bastoni did a splits and brought down the opponent's player, which led to a red card for the defender. Gattuso brought on Federico Gatti in place of Reteghi. Bosnia pressed hard at the end of the half, had several good chances to score, took a few shots, but the ball did not find the net.
At the break, Gattuso made another substitution and took off Politano, replacing him with Marco Palestra. The home team's coach, Sergei Barbarez, made a double substitution, and for the second half his team came out with a much more attacking formation after Alaybegovic and Tahirovic entered. Shortly after the restart, Demirovic failed to intercept a dangerous cross.
Bosnia and Herzegovina had the advantage and pressed the opponent, with the game being played almost entirely in the Azzurri's half. Donnarumma saved Alaybegovic's shot, and several corner kicks did not lead to danger. After a slightly calmer period, the visitors had a great chance. After a mistake by the hosts, Moise Kean started from the central area and broke away from the defense alone against the goalkeeper. However, the striker did not finish in the best possible way, sending the ball over the goal.
For a certain period, Italy managed to limit the opponent's attempts to attack. In the 72nd minute, Donnarumma made his best save of the match. He did a great job of blocking a shot by Tahirovic. The visitors' response was an excellent break by Palestra, who found Esposito, who had entered a little earlier, and he missed an excellent opportunity after shooting inaccurately from the edge of the penalty area. A little later, Dimarco also failed to take advantage of a good chance, sending the ball wide of the goal.
Gattuso's team cracked in the 79th minute. Dzeko headed a cross, Donnarumma saved, but Haris Tabaković sent the ball into the net in stoppage time. The goal increased the pressure on the "azurri" indescribably. In the following minutes, Bosnia pressed even more seriously and Donnarumma again had to make heroic efforts. The goalkeeper saved a header from Demirović.
The match ended 1:1 in regular time and went to extra time. In the first of them, the Italians did better and did not allow the opponent to reach dangerous situations. The hosts, on the other hand, seemed to have wasted most of their strength in the 90 minutes. At the end of the first extra time, Muharemović tripped Palestra right in front of the penalty area. The referee decided that the offense deserved only a yellow card. Tonali, on the other hand, shot into the wall from the foul. Seconds later, Esposito was close to scoring, but the Bosnian goalkeeper made an excellent save.
The second half didn't offer many dangerous situations, but at the end of it, Donnarumma happily watched as a ball went past his left post after a shot by Tahirovic. It came down to penalties. Esposito was the first to get behind the ball and missed the goal. In the third attempt for the "azurri", Cristante hit the post, and the home team's players were flawless and scored four times.