1–1 after regular time and a loss on penalties. The playoff defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina meant that Italy missed out on their third consecutive World Cup finals: Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 and North America 2026.
A fiasco that has shaken the Italian Football Federation.
And several people are taking responsibility.
The first to leave his role was chairman Gabriele Gravina, and shortly afterwards the national team manager, former goalkeeping icon Gianluigi Buffon, resigned as well.
Now national team captain Gennaro Gattuso has chosen to quit, a decision the Italian Football Federation and the 48-year-old have jointly agreed.
Gattuso described the situation as "with pain in my heart."
"It has been an honor to lead the national team and to do so with a group of players who have shown such commitment and loyalty to the shirt," he told the federation's website.
