In a focus battle in the semi-finals of the World Cup European Qualifier Play-off at the end of the early morning of March 25, Beijing time, the European Cup champion Italy men's football team broke out of the big cold, losing 0-1 to north Macedonia, ranked 67th in the world, and the blues did not qualify for the World Cup for two consecutive times. With Italy missing the World Cup, the "European Cup championship curse" in the World Cup arena continues to be fulfilled.
In the last three European Championships, Spain, Portugal and Italy have won the championship, but they have all suffered "Waterloo" in the subsequent World Cup. In 2012, Spain won the European Championship, becoming the first team in history to win a three-time grand prix. However, just two years later, at the World Cup in Brazil, the Matadors, which aspired to win the "4 consecutive championships" in the competition, encountered Waterloo. The group stage was a 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the first match, followed by a 2-0 loss to Chile in the early round.
Four years later, the World Cup in Russia, the 2016 European Championship champion Portugal men's football team, also failed to go too far. Portugal stumbled in the group stage, overwhelming Iran's second-place finish in the group with a one-point advantage. In the knockout rounds, Portugal met Uruguay. Although Pepe once equalised for Portugal, Uruguay still won 2-1 thanks to Cavani's scoring. Portugal lost the game without temper, and the ineffectual Cristiano Ronaldo was even shown a yellow card for being rude to the referee in stoppage time.
In 2022, Last year's European Championship winner Italy is even more humiliated. In the European Qualifiers, they conceded penalties in both matches against Switzerland's Jorginho, which forced Italy to participate in the play-offs as second in the group. Before playing Portugal in the play-off final, Italy was upset by North Macedonia in the semi-finals.
Compared with Spain and Portugal, which can at least reach the World Cup after winning the European Championship, Italy has missed the World Cup for two consecutive years. This is indeed a disgraceful thing for them, who are ranked 6th in the world.