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Good morning, I'm Dan Gartland. Stay alert on April Fool's Day, particularly in this era of AI.
In today's SI:AM:
⚽ Final World Cup berths clinched
🏟️ There's no place like home dome
🏀 Reforming the NBA lottery
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Ciao, Italy
Italy will not be heading to the men's World Cup. Once again.
The squad's defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday in the qualification playoffs confirmed what Italian fans had long dreaded: they'll be absent from the World Cup for the third consecutive time. Italy hasn't featured in a men's World Cup since 2014, the same summer LeBron James announced his comeback to Cleveland.
Italy drew first blood on Tuesday with Moise Kean's goal in the 15th minute following a sloppy error by the Bosnian goalkeeper. However, the match was turned upside down in the 41st minute when Italy's Alessandro Bastoni received a straight red card for a reckless sliding challenge, leaving his side to play over half the match with 10 men. Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma produced several outstanding saves to preserve the lead for his depleted team, but Bosnia's Haris Tabaković eventually leveled the score with a header in the 79th minute. Bosnia went on to triumph in a penalty shootout. It marks Bosnia's second World Cup appearance as an independent nation and their first since 2014.
"We still can't believe it—that we're eliminated and that it happened this way," Italy's Leonardo Spinazzola said. "It's heartbreaking for everyone. For us, for our families, and for all the children who have never seen Italy at a World Cup."
Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup is even more astonishing when you consider that the tournament was expanded from 32 to 48 teams for this edition. UEFA, the European confederation, was allocated 16 spots in the competition, and Italy still couldn't secure one.
So what went wrong? It all began with Italy's two defeats to Norway in the opening round of qualifying. Italy was placed in a qualifying group alongside Norway, Israel, Moldova and Estonia. Norway dominated the group and outscored opponents 37–5, including victories of 3–0 and 4–1 against Italy. As the group's runner-up, Italy was among 16 teams sent to the playoff round. They defeated Northern Ireland last week, 2–0, to advance to Tuesday's winner-takes-all clash against Bosnia.
It's been a difficult decade for Italy on the global stage. After claiming the 2006 World Cup, Italy failed to progress beyond the group stage at the following two tournaments. Their only World Cup victory since lifting the trophy is a 2–1 win over England in 2014. Paradoxically, Italy has actually fared quite well in European competition during that same period. They reached the final at the 2012 European Championships and won the 2020 Euros (held in the summer of 2021), which makes the World Cup failures all the more puzzling.
Elsewhere in qualifying, Czechia defeated Denmark to reach their second World Cup since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and first since 2006. That match was a thrilling affair featuring two goals scored in extra time and ultimately decided by a shootout. Sweden is also back at the World Cup after missing the 2022 tournament, courtesy of Viktor Gyökeres's late winner against Poland. Türkiye beat Kosovo, 1–0, to claim the final spot in the United States' group. The U.S. will also face Paraguay and Australia.
Two inter-confederation qualifying matches also saw teams end lengthy World Cup absences. The Democratic Republic of the Congo defeated Jamaica, 1–0, and Iraq edged Bolivia, 2–1. It's DR Congo's first World Cup appearance since 1974, when the nation was known as Zaire. Iraq last qualified in '86.
The U.S. men's national team was also in action Tuesday in a friendly against Portugal, and they did little to inspire confidence ahead of this summer's tournament. The U.S. were outplayed in a 2–0 defeat in which Portugal controlled possession (61.6%). The flat performance followed a 5–2 loss to Belgium on Saturday. The USMNT has just two more matches before the World Cup kicks off: May 31 against Senegal and June 6 against Germany.
The best of Sports Illustrated
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. The strange sequence in the Red Sox-Astros game where everyone on the field seemingly lost track of the count. Cam Smith swung and missed on an 0–2 pitch but wasn't sent back to the dugout.
4. Alex Ovechkin's 30th goal of the season. He now has 20 seasons with at least 30 goals. The only time he fell short of 30 goals in a season was 2020–21, when injuries restricted him to just 45 games.
3. A thunderous block by LeBron James just moments after the opening tip.
2. Cal Raleigh's pinpoint throw to nail Cody Bellinger attempting to steal second. (Bellinger had a priceless reaction, too.)
1. The goalie brawl between the Rangers' Igor Shesterkin and Devils' Jacob Markstrom.
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Dan Gartland writes Sports Illustrated's flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, and is the host of the "Stadium Wonders" video series. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).