Photo: Ansa
What a boat. Italy deceived themselves in the first half and took the lead thanks to a Pio Esposito goal, but then slumped in the second half under the blows of Nusa, Haaland (two goals) and Strand Larsen, losing 4-1 at San Siro to Norway, after 3-0 in the first leg. With this success, Norway finished in first place in Group I with full points with 24 points and immediately qualified for the 2026 World Cup, after being absent since 1998, while Gattuso’s Azzurri had to play for their last chance in the playoffs so as not to miss the third World Cup in a row. Gattuso changed the match formation compared to the win against Moldova, with the Pio Esposito-Retegui duo returning to play from the first minute on the front line.
Race – Locatelli returns to the center of the pitch with Frattesi and Barella in the middle replacing Tonali and Cristante, and Politano on the right. In Norway there was only one change with Solbakken leaving Bobb on the bench for Thorstvedt. The Scandinavian team has only won one official match, namely the first leg 3-0 in Oslo which complicated Italy’s path to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. Italy became increasingly motivated and in the 8th minute the first chance came through Di Lorenzo’s cross from the right, but Pio Esposito was able to anticipate it with a header, although Dimarco’s shot arrived and failed to meet Nyland’s goal. Italian pressure was constant at the start and in the 11th minute Italy took the lead: Ryerson failed to control the penalty area, giving the ball to Dimarco who fed Pio Esposito who, in a dangerous state of stability and with his back to goal, turned superbly and fell to beat Nyland to make the score 1-0. It was the Inter striker’s third national team goal.
Norway appeared dark and in the 22nd minute Dimarco again looked for Pio Esposito at the far post, but his assist was not quite right. Norway’s first threat came in the 31st minute through Nusa, the Leipzig man latching onto Mancini’s rebound and attempting a shot from outside which ended up high over the crossbar. The ball was still in the blue’s hands and in the 36th minute Pio Esposito almost doubled the lead with a header following Dimarco’s cross, but missed the target. In the 39th minute the Inter striker fell in the penalty area after making contact with Ajer, but for the referee everything was fine and VAR confirmed it.
RECOVERY – Norway returned to the field in the second half with another attitude and almost equalized in the 47th minute: Haaland served to Nusa which opened the opportunity for Sorloth who looked for a conclusion but failed to find the net against Donnarumma. In the 48th minute Sorloth was again the protagonist but this time the Atlético Madrid striker concentrated on his left foot and fired a shot not far from the top corner. Italy fell behind and Norway equalized: in the 63rd minute Nusa avoided Di Lorenzo, stepped on Politano twice and left-footed Donnarumma to make it 1-1. In the 72nd minute Nusa almost doubled their lead but Donnarumma was ready to shoot.
Gattuso’s team tried to shake things up and in the 73rd minute Dimarco with a left foot volley challenged Nyland at the near post. Then he crossed for Pio Esposito who tried to turn it inside, always finding Nyland. In the 75th minute the Azzurri striker was again dangerous with his header but his shot went wide. Italy, who seemed to have recovered, collapsed towards the end under Haaland’s blows. In the 78th minute, the City striker beat Donnarumma with Bobb’s serve from the left. In the 80th minute Haaland scored again: he anticipated Mancini through Thorsby’s assist and slotted the ball in to make it 3-1 with his 16th goal in this World Cup qualifier in eight games. After Cristante’s arrival, the Italian coach also brought in Zaccagni, Scamacca, Ricci and Buongiorno. In the final, in the 81st minute the Azzurri tried to reduce their defeat but Politano’s left footed shot from outside the penalty box went wide. It looked like it was over but on a final lunge in the 93rd minute Norway dropped the poker with new signing Strand Larsen counter-attacking, leapfrogging Mancini in the box and beating Donnarumma for Norway’s final celebration.
TEACHER’S APOLOGY – “We have to apologize to our fans because 4-1 was a tough result. It’s a shame because we had a very good first half, where we were a real team. In the second half we played below our abilities, we recovered. We had to start again from the first half, because the team had already asserted itself. In the second half we struggled a lot.” National coach Gennaro Gattuso said this to Rai Sport after Italy’s defeat against Norway 4-1 in Group I of the World Cup qualifiers, a path that will continue for the Azzurri with the playoffs in March 2026. “We were lacking in distance, in the first half we were more compact. We gave space to the opponent, we took them into our area. The match changed when in the first 30 seconds of the second half they had a shot on the first goal. We were there, scared and we have to improve this aspect”, concluded Gattuso.
PICTURE – After tonight’s defeat the Azzurri now await the play-off draw scheduled for Thursday 20 in Zurich. The play-off semi-finals will be played on March 26, the final on the 31st.
