Three straight World Cups. Zero Italy appearances. Let that sink in for a second.
The Azzurri had one job Tuesday night. Show up in Zenica, handle a Bosnia side ranked 75th in the world, and book their flight to North America. Instead, they left with nothing. Again. For the third consecutive World Cup cycle, Italy will watch the tournament from their sofas while the rest of the world gets to have fun.
That was the biggest headline from a Tuesday night that delivered more pure drama than most people had any right to expect. Six matches across Europe and Mexico. Six spots up for grabs in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. And every single one went right to the edge.
Here is what happened, and why it matters.
Italy Walk Into the Same Trap for the Third Time
Italy started perfectly in Zenica. Moise Kean put them ahead after just 15 minutes, and for a little while it looked like the night was going according to script. Then Alessandro Bastoni got sent off in the 41st minute, and the whole thing unraveled. Bosnia smelled blood. They threw everything at Gianluigi Donnarumma, registering 30 shot attempts and 11 shots on goal against a side playing with 10 men for nearly an hour.
Haris Tabaković equalized in the 79th minute. Extra time settled nothing. In the shootout, Italy missed two penalties. Bosnia scored four. Done.
Italy legend Alessandro Del Piero did not hold back. He said exactly what millions of people were thinking. “Italy has become a laughingstock,” Del Piero stated after the final whistle, and it is genuinely hard to argue right now. This is a football nation that has won four World Cups. They are now the cautionary tale that gets brought up whenever a big country misses out. This time it was not bad luck. This was a structural collapse in plain sight, and nobody fixed it in time.
Bosnia and Herzegovina are heading to Group B alongside Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland. Their fans celebrated all night. An entire country stayed up for this. Every second of those celebrations is deserved.
Meanwhile, the other three UEFA playoff finals were doing their own version of chaos.
Sweden 3-2 Poland: Gyokeres Breaks Lewandowski’s Heart
Viktor Gyokeres rescued Sweden in the 88th minute. It was a match that swung back and forth. Anthony Elanga opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Nicola Zalewski leveled for Poland in the 33rd. Gustaf Lagerbielke headed Sweden back in front in the 44th minute. Then Karol Swiderski tapped home the equalizer in the 55th to make it 2-2. Gyokeres settled it with two minutes left. When the final whistle blew, cameras caught Robert Lewandowski in tears on the pitch in Stockholm. He is 37 years old, one of the finest strikers of his generation, and this was his last realistic shot at a World Cup. It ended like this. That image will follow him for a long time.
Graham Potter has had a turbulent time as Sweden manager, and this result changes the conversation. Sweden land in Group F with the Netherlands, Japan, and Tunisia. That is a proper group. They will not be soft touches.
Türkiye 1-0 Kosovo: A 24-Year Wait Finally Over
Türkiye beat Kosovo 1-0 in the Path C final. Kerem Aktürkoglu scored in the 53rd minute and that was enough. Türkiye had not been at the World Cup since 2002, a 24-year absence that finally ends this summer. Manager Vincenzo Montella has built something worth watching with this side. They join the United States in Group D alongside Paraguay and Australia, which is a group loaded with storylines before a single ball is kicked.
Czechia 2-2 Denmark: Three Missed Penalties and Denmark Pay the Price
Then there was Czechia against Denmark, which somehow needed a penalty shootout to settle despite producing two goals in the first three minutes of extra time alone. Pavel Sulc scored in the 3rd minute to give Czechia an early lead. Denmark pushed back, Joachim Andersen leveled things in the 72nd minute, and both teams exchanged goals in extra time. When it went to penalties, Denmark missed three of their attempts. Three. Tomas Chory, Tomas Soucek, and Michal Sadílek all converted for Czechia, sending them to their first World Cup since 2006. Denmark go home.
DR Congo End 52 Years of Hurt. Iraq Seal the Final Spot.
DR Congo beat Jamaica 1-0 in extra time. Axel Tuanzebe, the Burnley defender, tapped home from a corner kick in the 100th minute. DR Congo had not been at a World Cup since 1974. That is 52 years. The country declared a public holiday after qualification was confirmed. Think about what that means for a generation of DR Congo fans who had never seen their national team compete on the biggest stage in football. They land in Group K with Portugal, Uzbekistan, and Colombia.
Iraq then confirmed the final spot. They beat Bolivia 2-1 to close out the entire 48-team field. It is a historic moment for a programme that fought through one of the more difficult qualifying paths in the world. Their reward is Group I alongside France, Senegal, and Norway. That is about as tough a draw as exists in this tournament, but Iraq earned their place there and nobody can take that away from them.
So the 2026 World Cup qualifiers are done. The 48-team field is complete. The tournament kicks off on June 11, in just over 70 days. And some of the moments from Tuesday night are going to follow these teams all the way into the summer. Italy sitting at home while Bosnia celebrate. DR Congo ending 52 years of hurt in the 100th minute. Lewandowski on his knees in Stockholm.
This is exactly why qualifying nights like this one exist. The World Cup does not start when the first whistle blows in June. For Bosnia, it started in Zenica. For DR Congo, it started in Guadalajara when Tuanzebe tapped home. The stories are already written. Now the tournament gets to begin.
