World Cup
Two Football Nations, One Shared Pain: Like Nigeria, Italy again at the brink of successive miss-out in World Cup
Just like Nigeria, whose World Cup journey ended painfully in Rabat on Sunday night, four-time world champions Italy are once again standing on the edge of a disastrous back-to-back World Cup miss-out.
On Sunday in Bergamo, Italy fell 4–1 at home to resurgent Norway in their final World Cup qualifying match — a defeat that forced the Azzurri into the playoffs for the third successive edition, and revived painful memories of their failed attempts to reach the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
For Nigeria, whose own heartbreak came only hours earlier, the Italian collapse felt eerily familiar: dominance without efficiency, hopes raised and dashed, and another detour into the dangerous uncertainty of playoffs.
Norway, who had not reached the World Cup since 1998, sealed qualification in style with a perfect record of eight wins. The emphatic 4–1 victory over Italy ensured they finished six points clear at the top of the group.
Italy came into the match needing nothing short of a miracle — a nine-goal win to overturn Norway’s superior goal difference.
They started with urgency and even took an early lead in the 11th minute through Francesco Pio Esposito. The hosts dominated the first half and threatened repeatedly, while Norway looked subdued and only produced a half-chance from Antonio Nusa.
But the second half belonged entirely to the visitors. Nusa levelled in the 63rd minute before Erling Haaland, left unmarked in a moment of shocking defensive lapse, fired home in the 78th minute and struck again one minute later to take his tally to 16 goals in the campaign.
Jorgen Strand Larsen added a fourth in stoppage time, completing a memorable night for the Norwegians — and a brutal one for the Italians.
Hours after Nigeria’s penalty shootout exit to DR Congo, Italy’s own nightmare unfolded. Before kickoff, Italians already knew their fate: the playoffs were inevitable unless they produced a historic scoreline.
It was a scenario they had seen too many times.
- In 2018, they finished behind Spain and lost their playoff to Sweden.
- In 2022, they finished behind Switzerland and were stunned by North Macedonia in the playoffs.
- Now, in 2026, they must survive yet another playoff to avoid a humiliating third straight absence from world football’s biggest stage.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso admitted the 4–1 scoreline was “heavy” and painful for the fans.
“We’ll find a solution. We want to reach the semi-finals, push through to the final, and earn our place at the World Cup,” he told Rai Sport.
“The first half was very good, but the second half was nowhere near the standard we set.”
Italy’s wastefulness in front of goal — a problem that has plagued them across multiple cycles — resurfaced again, mirroring the finishing troubles that haunted Nigeria during the qualifiers.
While Italy and Nigeria grappled with disappointment, Norway erupted in celebration. After nearly three decades of dashed hopes, setbacks and near-misses, their return to the World Cup felt like a national rebirth.
Captain Martin Ødegaard, despite being injured, described the feeling as “unreal.”
“We have stood in so much rubbish, so many setbacks. To be here in this moment means everything,” he told Norwegian TV2.
“We always believed, and now we are getting the reward.”
Two Football Nations, One Shared Pain
For Nigeria and Italy — nations with strong football traditions and passionate supporters — Sunday delivered a bitter parallel. Both entered the night with high expectations, both fell short, and both now watch the World Cup picture take shape without the comfort of security.
For Italy, the playoffs offer one final lifeline. For Nigeria, the road has reached its end. Yet on a night when global qualifying drama unfolded, the heartbreaks of Abuja and Rome felt painfully alike.
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The Trump administration will not require World Cup ticket holders from countries flagged for high rates of visa overstays to pay expensive bonds to enter the United States, a U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday.
The administration last year began requiring visitors from some countries to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to obtain tourist visas to the U.S., saying the steep deposit was needed to prevent visa overstays. Fifty countries are currently subject to the bond requirement, which was expanded this year.
Five of the 50 countries subject to the visa bonds qualified to participate in the World Cup: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia.
Mora Namdar, the top official in the State Department’s consular affairs division, said the U.S. would waive the bond requirement for ticket-holding fans who had already registered through a special system to expedite their visa processing. Qualifying team members and staff can also have the bonds waived, Namdar said.
“We remain committed to strengthening U.S. national security priorities while facilitating legitimate travel for the upcoming World Cup tournament,” she said in a statement.
The Associated Press first reported the news.
The World Cup, one of the globe’s biggest sporting events, will be held in June and July this year across three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown has already cast a pall over the event and raised concerns about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Last year, masked federal agents surged into U.S. cities to track down immigration offenders and detained some tourists at airports.
The advocacy group Human Rights Watch , in late April, called on FIFA to press the U.S. government to establish an “ICE Truce” for the World Cup, including a public guarantee to refrain from immigration enforcement operations at games and venues.
DHS said at the time that international visitors travelling for the games “have nothing to worry about” if they have legal immigration status.
The U.S. launched a system in January to make it easier for World Cup ticket holders to obtain expedited visas. In order to have the bond requirement waived, ticket holders from affected countries must have registered in that system, known as FIFA PASS, by April 15.
-Reuters
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New Jersey’s public rail system is further dropping its World Cup ticket price from an original $150 per round trip to $98, the rail system provider said on Wednesday.
This NJ TRANSIT cut followed a reduction to $105 earlier in May.
The prices for the trip, which outraged World Cup fans both in the New York City area and from overseas, sparked much political comment, from local officials to U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
Local officials had complained that FIFA was going to earn billions from the event, while New Jersey taxpayers would be footing a huge bill for security, disrupted services and other game-related impacts.
“We were able to reduce costs while protecting NJ Transit’s daily customers and commuters from bearing the financial burden,” NJ Transit Chair Priya Jain said.
The price drop was possible because of additional advertising revenue, the agency said.
The tournament, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, starts on June 11.
-Reuters
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The White House refuted reports that the United States denied visas for five members of Iraq’s national team ahead of next month’s World Cup.
The State Department sent a statement on Wednesday to Front Office Sports in response to online reports involving five players, including Luton Town forward Ali Al-Hamadi.
“Currently, there are no known issues affecting the Iraq National Team players, and they remain on track to compete in the World Cup,” the statement reads. “We maintain daily communication with FIFA and will continue to prioritise these players in accordance with the President’s Executive Order, ensuring an incredible and safe tournament.”
The Iraqi Football Association also quashed the rumours that had circulated on social media on Tuesday.
“The news is false, and the truth is that all the national team players have obtained entry visas to America,” it said, per the Iraqi news site The New Region, adding that the players are also in the process of getting Canadian visas.
Iraq is in a tough Group I for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America, along with France, Senegal and Norway. Iraq is scheduled to play games in Foxborough, Mass. (June 16 vs. Norway), Philadelphia (June 22 vs. France) and in Toronto (June 26 vs. Senegal).
-Reuters
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US drops bond requirement for World Cup ticket holders
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