Italy's WC Curse Continues: Bonus Rows, Penalty Pain and Resignation Chaos

Blimey, Italy's national team has done it again – missing the World Cup for a third straight time. This latest heartbreak came via a gut-wrenching penalty shootout loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2026 qualifiers play-off final. But the drama didn't stop at the final whistle; it's a right old mess of bonuses, resignations and club fallout.

Bonus Demands Backfire Spectacularly

Before facing Bosnia in Zenica, the Azzurri squad fancied a €300,000 bonus pot – about €10,000 a head – just for booking their World Cup ticket. La Repubblica spilled the beans on this cheeky pre-match haggling, as reported by Lorenzo Bettoni at Football Italia.

Enter Gennaro Gattuso, the no-nonsense gaffer who shut it down sharpish. 'Wait till we're qualified, lads,' he barked, wise to the superstition of tempting fate. Sadly, his prudence proved prophetic: Italy bottled it on pens, with misses and a red card sealing doom.

Gattuso rightly called time on his tenure post-match, despite players begging him to stay. Talk about a mindset meltdown – chasing cash before glory? Classic Italian flair, but the wrong kind.

Resignations Ripple Through Italian Football

It's not just Gattuso waving cheerio. FIGC President Gabriele Gravina and delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon have jumped ship too, leaving Italian football in turmoil. Three WC misses in a row? That's not a dip; it's a catastrophe, dubbed the 'third apocalypse' by the papers.

Whispers now swirl around Paolo Maldini, the Milan legend, as a top shout for FIGC president. Could the iconic defender steady the ship? After all, he's got more class than half the current squad combined.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan boss Cristian Chivu is rallying his Italy stars – Alessandro Bastoni (sent off), Francesco Pio Esposito (peno villain), Federico Dimarco, Nicolò Barella and Davide Frattesi. 'Champions bounce back,' he insists ahead of a massive Serie A clash with Roma. With Lautaro Martínez back from injury, Inter top the table by six points, unbeaten at the San Siro since November.

Roma, stewing in sixth, face a stern test under Gian Piero Gasperini. Chivu's lot need character to halt their mini-slump – eight games left, and the Scudetto's in sight.

Bouncing Back or Breakdown?

Gianluigi Donnarumma summed the pain: tears of sadness over no World Cup bow. Pundit Gab Marcotti offered no excuses for the failure. Italy's four-time champs reduced to also-rans – how the mighty have fallen.

Chivu nailed it: setbacks are football's beast. Inter's lads have fan love and quality to refocus. But for the national team? Time for a reset, pronto.

As per PA via ESPN Italy and OneFootball, this saga sums Italy's woes: talent aplenty, but mentality AWOL. Will Maldini step in? Can the Inter core rally? Grab your pint, mate – Italian football's soap opera just got juicier. (Word count: 512)