Berlin, 2 April 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Gennaro Gattuso has left his future as Italy coach open after the Azzurri shockingly failed for the third time in a row to qualify for a World Cup which has prompted calls for a thorough structural overhaul.

Italy are four-time World Cup winners but a 4-1 defeat on penalties in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday means that the Euro 2020 winners will miss out like in 2018 and 2022.

Former AC Milan midfielder Gattuso was part of the last Italian team that lifted the trophy in 2006 and was appointed coach last June in succession of Luciano Spalletti.

Gattuso named Tuesday's defeat in Zenica "a heavy blow" on a personal level and said "I have no interest whatsoever to talk about my future.

"We should be talking about Italy, about the blue shirt and that it is another setback which we didn't deserve.

"I apologise to all Italians. It hurts so much. I can only thank them (the players), as it had been years since I’d seen the Nazionale play with such heart."

Italy led early from Moise Kean but Alessandro Bastoni sent off shortly before half-time. Bosnia got a 79th-minute equalizer from Haris Tabaković but Italy held out to reach shoot-out where only Sandro Tonali netted as Pio Esposito fired over and Bryan Cristante's effort came back from the underside of the bar.

The Italian football federation FIGC will meet next week to discuss the future. Its president, Gabriele Gravina, was quoted as backing Guttoso as well national team delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon, the goalkeeper in the winning team from 2006.

“I asked him, and Buffon, to stay on as manager of this team. He’s a great manager,” said Gravina, whose future could also be on the line.

Italian sports minister Andrea Abodi called for an overhaul which must start with the FIGC leadership.

“It is clear to everyone that Italian football needs to be restructured, and that this process must begin with a shake-up of the leadership of the Italian Football Federation. It is not enough to shift the blame onto others,” Abodi said.

Daily Corriere della Sera said: "Failing to qualify for the World Cup is not just a failure, but the collapse of an entire system, a structural crisis.

"This embarrassment shows that the foundations of the whole project are crumbling. The whole system has broken down. This defeat lays bare the organisational and social problems plaguing Italian football."

Abroad, Germany's Kicker sports spoke of an "Italian World Cup apocalypse."

Britain's Guardian named the outcome "another infamous occasion for a nation that has won four men’s World Cups but is starting to believe it may never go to another after missing out for the third time in a row."

In Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport struck a similar note, saying: "The Italian national team’s disastrous run has now lost its element of shock; rather than being unpredictable, it seems to have become the norm.

"For the first time, an entire generation will have grown up without seeing Italy at a World Cup," it said.

The last Italian World Cup match was a 1-0 defeat against Uruguay in 2014 which led to a second straight group stage exit. The last knock-out match of the Azzurri was the 2006 final they won on penalties against France.

Defender Leonardo Spinazzola also had this on his mind when he told RAI Sport: "I feel really bad for all of Italy. It’s just so enormously disappointing for us, for our families, for all the Italian children who won’t see Italy at a World Cup."

Photo: epa