Italy national team has failed to qualify for three consecutive World Cups. According to Sky Sport Italia, the Italian national team will change its head coach and is considering inviting Antonio Conte or Massimiliano Allegri to take charge.
In yesterday's World Cup European play-off final, Italy drew 1-1 away with Bosnia and Herzegovina but lost 1-4 in the penalty shootout, missing out on the 2026 World Cup. Sky Sport Italia believes that Gennaro Gattuso will no longer continue as Italy national team coach, and in addition, Italy national team manager Gianluigi Buffon will also step down. Who will become the new national team coach next has become a topic of great concern among fans.
Gattuso took over the struggling Italy national team in June last year, signing a one-year contract with an option to renew for another two years if he secured World Cup qualification. Now that Italy has failed to qualify for the World Cup, Gattuso will no longer serve as the national team coach. Gattuso will leave quietly, not wanting to create any problems or controversies. Buffon, who has served as Italy national team manager since August 2023, will also leave together with Gattuso.
At present, Italy first needs to hold someone accountable for the national team's failure to qualify for the World Cup, but Italian Football Federation President Gabriele Gravina still refuses to resign, while there are strong calls in Italy for him to leave. Sky Sport Italia points out that the selection of the new national team coach will only be considered after the new president of the Football Federation is confirmed. However, the two current favorites to replace Gattuso are Conte and Allegri. Both are top Italian coaches, but they are currently under contract—Conte is now the coach of Napoli, while Allegri is the coach of AC Milan.
Although both Napoli and AC Milan may not want to let their coaches go easily, both Conte and Allegri are willing to consider the Italy national team if there is a real long-term reconstruction plan. In fact, Conte has already coached the Italy national team from 2014 to 2016. Sky Sport Italia says that now the Italy national team needs to accelerate the consideration of its future path and must avoid making mistakes again.
