Stunned Roberto Mancini apologises for Italy's "incredible" Qatar World Cup humiliation

Italy have failed to reach the World Cup for the second successive time after a humiliating home defeat by European minnows North Macedonia ensured they will not be in Qatar later this year.

Roberto Mancini's side dominated for the majority of the contest, with a staggering 32 shots on goal over the course of the 90 minutes of their World Cup semi-final play off. However, in what is a damning indictment of the Azzurri's wasteful finishing, just five of them ended up on target.

In stark contrast, visitors North Macedonia had a feeble four efforts in the whole game but most crucially, one of those beat Gianluigi Donnarumma between the sticks in second-half stoppage time. Aleksandar Trajkovski will forever be a hero in his home country after his long-range effort nestled into the bottom corner of the Italian's goal.

The goal sparked wild celebrations from the away dug-out, with seemingly the entire North Macedonia squad running on the pitch to cherish the unforgettable moment that sealed Italy's fate. The result means their last World Cup appearance came in Brazil eight years ago.

In what is an even more eyebrow-raising statistic, the loss means two decades could separate Italy's last World Cup knockout contest and their next. The last came in the form of the 2006 final, while the next could well be the round of 16 in the 2026 edition of the tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

Following one of the darkest night's in Italy's football history - just months after lifting the European Championship, Mancini could not hide his anguish. "I’m more than disappointed, I’ve nothing to say. Something incredible happened tonight. We deserved to win the Euros, now we’ve been really unlucky…but that’s it, that’s the reality.