Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 24, 2022
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Italy humiliated by North Macedonia and miss second successive soccer World Cup
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Italy's Domenico Berardi on his knees after missing a scoring chance during the World Cup qualifying play-off soccer match between Italy and North Macedonia, at Renzo Barbera stadium, in Palermo, Italy, Thursday, March 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
PALERMO, Italy — Italy will miss their second World Cup in a row after slumping to a shock 1-0 play-off semi-final defeat to North Macedonia.
Aleksandar Trajkovski’s low drive in the second minute of stoppage time stuns the European champions in Palermo and sets up a qualifying final with Portugal in Porto on Tuesday for a chance to be in Qatar in November.
Roberto Mancini’s side are loudly booed off after a defeat which means Italy will have to wait until at least 2026 to see its national team at a World Cup.
By then it will have been 12 years since the Azzurri’s last participation in the world’s biggest football tournament after they failed to qualify for the 2018 edition, also crashing out in the play-offs on that occasion.
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