“The Italian emphasized that the team is obliged to make it to the World Cup in 2026 and expressed his faith in his coach.”, — write: football.ua
The Italian emphasized that the team is obliged to make it to the World Cup in 2026 and expressed his faith in his coach.
Verratti, Getty Images October 31, 2025, 09:38
“The third time will be too much. There are generations that have not reached this level. My children have never seen Italy at the World Cup,” said Verratti in an interview with Footmercato.
The player also mentioned the failures of the previous selections, when Italy was left without a ticket to the main tournament of the planet, despite strong results.
“It will be difficult, because even in other cases when we were relegated, we faced incredible circumstances. We thought: how is it possible that we were relegated? We broke the record of 35 matches in a row without defeat, and here we are, not at the World Cup,” said the midfielder.
Despite past disappointments, Verratti has faith in the current coach and his ability to bring Italy back to the top.
“Today we have a coach who really wants to win. He knows how to convey this desire to the players. Now, I think, it is almost inevitable that we will go through the playoffs again. And in March, everyone needs to be ready for these two matches. I hope that success will be on our side,” the football player concluded.
Italy are currently second in their qualifying group, three points behind Norway after seven matches.