Ancelotti will support Canada at 2022 World Cup after Italy fail to qualify

Carlo Ancelotti was hoping to cheer Italy on to World Cup glory at Qatar 2022, but the Real Madrid boss has revealed that he will now be throwing his support behind Canada after the Azzurri failed to qualify.

The Euro 2020 winners will be absentees in the Middle East after suffering a shock play-off defeat to North Macedonia.

Roberto Mancini’s men will sit out a second successive World Cup, meaning Ancelotti and his fellow countrymen are having to find alternative teams to root for.

Canada will be gracing the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986 and, having topped the CONCACAF qualification section, are a side that Ancelotti – who married Canadian businesswoman Mariann Barrena McClay in 2014 – is looking forward to watching.

The Italian tactician told Rai Radio: “At the World Cup I will cheer for Canada: they have been missing for many years and it is my second home.

“Then the president of the Canadian Federation is from Abruzzo, so everyone cheers on Canada.”

Ancelotti is yet to dip his toe into the world of international management, having spent his entire coaching career in the club game with AC Milan, Juventus, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.

Having previously overseen Real Madrid’s ‘La Decima’ Champions League triumph, he is now back in the Spanish capital looking for more La Liga and European titles.

He has a contract with the Blancos to 2024 and insists they, rather than any potential return to Milan, are his only priority at present.

Ancelotti said: "I'll talk about it the day I quit Real Madrid. If I quit with Real Madrid in 20 years, I think I can retire instead of going to Milan.

"Milan is one of the few teams that I keep in my heart because it raised me: not as a player, but as a