Luciano Spalletti said about his side “this is not who we are” after Italy went down a 3-0 defeat in Norway in their first World Cup qualifier. The bid to reach the competition in 2026 has started badly with no points on the board and their latest opponents running away with the top spot. To avoid the anguish of previous years, the players must perform must closer to the level Spalletti sees in them.
- ‘One-on-one situations made the difference’
The game had gotten away from the Italians by the midway mark of the match, needlessly putting themselves on the back foot. In the 14th minute, Alessandro Bastoni hit a misplaced switch into the path of David Moller Wolfe, and the hosts broke away. Antonio Nusa navigated his way through the centre of the field, and he set away Alexander Sørloth to sprint in behind the back five and score.
Spalletti saw this goal as a decisive factor in the flow of the display, setting the tone for the evening.
“It can be explained with the way the game went. We conceded an avoidable first goal, then in the open spaces, they had individual moves that caused us problems. After that, it was more difficult.”
Matters got worse just after the half hour mark. Morten Thorsby took down a long ball and Nusa was a livewire again. He flicked the ball with his heel while it was in the air to go around Nicolo Rovella, racing between the midfielder and Giovanni di Lorenzo to line up an effort towards the target. The ball cannoned off his foot, flying beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma and he doubled the advantage.
Erling Haaland, the last member of the front three, wrapped up the scoring spree. Julian Ryerson clattered into Sandro Tonali and the Norwegians nailed another counterattack. Martin Odegaard operated as the locksmith, threading a through ball for the striker to spin onto as he sidestepped the goalkeeper and slotted into an empty net. The smash-and-grab strategy had pried apart the Azzurri.
“After we went 2-0 down, they sat backward in their own half, it was difficult to find any spaces.”
Since the early exit from the European Championship last summer in the Round of 16, Italy have returned to the roots of a classic 3-5-2 formation. But they were not able to that standard system with the invention that would be necessary to take apart the Norwegians once they had gone in the lead.
“Above all a lack of players who could take players on in one-on-one situations made the difference.”
Spalletti squared up to the situation, recognising the role he has as a manager in influencing affairs.
“I am the head of this group, it is a squad I chose and so I continue with them. We need to improve in certain aspects, because we cannot be giving such advantages to the opponents by gifting the ball.
“This is the best group that we evaluated, so we continue with these players.”
- ‘You have to ask yourself questions’
The manager mentioned some more worrying words after the final whistle in his press conference.
It has been an ordeal to pull this squad together. Nicolo Barella and Alessandro Bastoni, two of his pillars, were coming off the back of a 5-0 rout in the final of the Champions League with Inter Milan, while their club teammate Francesco Acerbi cited a lack of respect from Spalletti as the reason for a refusal to accept a call-up. Riccardo Calafiori, in and out of the fold with knee issues, was not part of the squad and Moise Kean picked up a thigh strain in training camp before kickoff.
Despite all of those adversities, the manner of this decisive defeat still stunned and stung Spalletti.
“This is not who we are, because in terms of individuals, we can do more, but you can also see this is a difficult moment. A few things happened to us, but this is the squad I chose and will continue with.”
There might be a part of him thoroughly reconsidering how much more he can achieve in this post.
The 66-year-old orchestrated a historic Scudetto charge for Napoli in 2023, ending his time in south Italy on the highest of notes. The task of taking charge of the national team tempted him to put a stop to his sabbatical, but there have been turbulent times in the last 21 months. He has won less than half of his 23 fixtures as the manager of the Azzurri and seemed to have second thoughts about his future.
“I need to talk to President Gravina about their intentions, their view on the decision I make. I chose this group because I thought there was quality, but if we are so fragile we do not keep an offside trap, we don’t chase down opponents, then there is a lack of confidence. Quality isn’t enough without that.”
This loss is not terminal, but it places the Italians on the back foot in the bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Norway had beaten Moldova 6-0 and earned a 4-2 triumph over Israel in their first two fixtures of the group, turning this meeting into a pivotal point in the race for the first position. It is imperative that they triumph and put points on the board at home to the Moldovans on Monday.
More to the point, the horrors of the attempts to reach the last two editions of the World Cup will linger in the memories of the country. The Italians were second best in a two-legged playoff with Sweden and missed out on the tournament in 2018, then suffered humiliation with a late 1-0 loss in a playoff with North Macedonia in 2022 that took place less than a year after they won the Euros. To have not been on the global stage since 2014 is painful for the Azzurri, who will not want a repeat.
“There are always worries. After a performance like that, you clearly have to ask yourself questions and realise that there are problems, but you have to face them, because there is no other possibility.”