Gennaro Gattuso admitted the team lost confidence after Italy's 1-4 home defeat to Norway, which caused them to miss automatic World Cup qualification again this year and forced them to seek a playoff spot. Previously, in two attempts, Italy failed to qualify for the final tournament.
On 17 Nov 2025 GMT+7, Gennaro Gattuso spoke candidly after Italy's national team suffered a 4-1 home defeat to Norway, resulting in the 'Azzurri' missing out on automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup. They now face the playoffs for the third consecutive time, having failed to advance from the playoffs in their two previous attempts, leading to consecutive World Cup qualification failures in 2018 and 2022.
Although Italy knew finishing first was nearly impossible since they would have needed a 9-0 win to overturn the goal difference against Norway, they hoped at least to secure a victory to regain confidence ahead of the playoffs. Instead, after taking the lead through Francesco Pio Esposito, they conceded four consecutive goals and ended the game with a painful loss—the first defeat under Gattuso's tenure.
Gattuso admitted the situation was "truly worrying" after the team collapsed in the second half.
At the post-match press conference, when asked about Norway's dominant second-half performance, Gattuso explained that the issue was not physical fitness but rather a complete breakdown in mindset and tactics.
"Just 30 seconds after halftime, we allowed them an immediate chance, then we retreated and played into their hands. It wasn't a fitness problem but errors in timing and decision-making," he said.