Luciano Spalletti says he was fired as coach of Italy before the 2026 World Cup.
Spalletti confirmed the news at his news conference on Sunday, before the Italy World Cup in Moldova. This followed the increase in pressure after Spalletti’s team opened their qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup with a 3-0 loss in Norway on Friday, a result that Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, described how “It’s not acceptable”.
Spalletti took command of Italy in August 2023, replacing Roberto Mancini. He supervised a difficult campaign of the 2024 European Championship, leaving a 2-0 loss in Switzerland in the 16 -year round, winning only one match in the tournament. The 66 -year -old man Won 11 of his 23 games in charge of Italy.
Italy hit the knockout stages of the UEFA League, but was fired by Germany in the quarterfinals after a 5-4 aggregate defeat.
Italy, four times champions, has not qualified for the World Cup since 2014, despite beating the Euro 2020 under Mancini. They are in fourth place in their qualification group for the 2026 edition with zero points, but have played a match in opposition to two so far due to their participation in the League of Nations.
Spalletti led Napoli to Serie A title in the 2022-23 campaign, the club’s first scudetto in 33 years.
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