Italy Fire Luciano Spalletti After FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers Loss To Norway

The fear that four-time champion Italy will fail to qualify for a third straight World Cup has cost coach Luciano Spalletti his job. Spalletti announced Sunday that he is being fired and will leave after Monday바카라�s World Cup qualifier against Moldova.

The move comes two days after Italy lost 3-0 at Norway in its opening qualifier.

바카라�Last night I had a conversation with the president (Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina) and he told me that I would be fired,바카라� Spalletti said in a pre-match news conference at Italy바카라�s training center. 바카라�I didn바카라�t have any intention on (leaving) and I would have preferred to stay on. But it바카라�s a sacking and I realize that.바카라�

Claudio Ranieri, who just concluded a successful season at Roma but had said he was retiring from coaching, is reportedly the federation바카라�s top choice to replace Spalletti.

But the federation did not immediately name a replacement 바카라� and after the Moldova game, Italy doesn바카라�t play again until September.

Spalletti was hired in August 2023 when Roberto Mancini unexpectedly left to take over Saudi Arabia바카라�s national team. Spalletti was given a three-year contract through the 2026 World Cup.

Spalletti바카라�s first major tournament ended with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Switzerland in the round of 16 of last year바카라�s European Championship.

Then Italy was eliminated from the Nations League quarterfinals after conceding an embarrassing goal to Germany earlier this year 바카라� which meant that the Azzurri entered a five-team World Cup qualifying group featuring Erling Haaland바카라�s Norway instead of a four-team group in which the highest-ranked nation is Slovakia.

Winning the group is the only way to ensure direct qualification to next year바카라�s tournament in North America. The second-placed team goes into the playoffs, the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.

Having started qualifying late, Italy has zero points and trails group leader Norway by nine points.

What바카라�s more, key defender Francesco Acerbi 바카라� the center back who was supposed to mark Haaland 바카라� turned down the callup for the Norway and Moldova matches.

바카라�I바카라�ve always taken on this job as a service to the nation and I will do everything I can to help the future of the national team,바카라� Spalletti said. 바카라�I바카라�ll come to a contract resolution after tomorrow night. 바카라� I had all the support possible concerning the choices I wanted to make. But the results didn바카라�t come.바카라�