For the third straight time, Italy will miss the FIFA World Cup.
In a shock result, visiting Italy lost 2-1 (4-1 on penalty kicks) to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final of their UEFA playoff qualifier on Tuesday, officially eliminating the Italians from World Cup contention.
With the win, Bosnia and Herzegovina secured its spot and will take on host Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B action.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will face Canada in the opener for both teams on June 12 in Toronto.
It took some late heroics from the Bosnians to secure their spot, as Haris Tabakovic found the back of the net for the equalizer in the 79th minute.
Bosnia was helped by a crucial mistake from Italy just before the half-time mark. Despite taking a 1-0 lead into the locker room, the Azzurri went back in a man down, as centre-back Alessandro Bastoni was shown a red in the 41st minute for denying a clear goal-scoring chance with a last-gasp slide tackle.
However, it wouldn’t be enough to finish the job in regulation time. Despite a stark difference in possession (Bosnia out-possessed Italy 65-35) and chances (Bosnia out-shot Italy 30-9, with 11 shots on goal to Italy’s three), the home side was unable to finish the job without penalty kicks.
Bosnia and Herzegovina last qualified for the World Cup in 2014 — its first appearance at the tourney — and were eliminated in group play.
