Pirlo on Italy World Cup absence: ‘It’s a disaster, but it’s what we deserve’ | OneFootball

Andrea Pirlo has not held back on Italy’s continued absence from the World Cup, branding the national team’s third successive failure to qualify “a disaster.”

The former Milan and Juventus midfielder, now coaching in the United Arab Emirates, covered a wide range of subjects in an interview with the Daily Mail.

“Unfortunately, it’s a really difficult period for the Azzurri. We’ve missed the World Cup three times in a row now. It’s a real disaster,” Pirlo said, via Tuttosport.

“It’s not easy for us, but it’s what we deserve, given what we’ve become. So I think we have to prepare for the future, prepare to qualify for Euro 2028 and then, hopefully, the next World Cup.”

It is a bleak assessment from one of the finest players of Italy’s golden generation and a World Cup winner in 2006, and it chimes with the soul-searching that has followed the Azzurri’s slide throughout this summer’s tournament.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 8: Former New York City FC player Andrea Pirlo waves to fans prior to the MLS match against Orlando City at Yankee Stadium on March 8, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Vincent Carchietta/Getty Images)

Pirlo says Milan must ‘start from scratch’

The Rossoneri great was also asked whether he could one day take charge at San Siro, the club with which he won virtually everything as a player.

“Me as Milan coach? I think they have other objectives now,” he said. “They really have to start from scratch because they can’t not play in the Champions League. They have to think seriously about how to renew the squad and start a new cycle, begin again.”

Turning to the tournament itself, Pirlo installed a familiar trio as the sides to beat. “I think France, Spain and Portugal are the main favourites,” he said. “Then there could be surprises, but I believe France have the best chance. Football is a strange sport, though, so you never know.”

He was more diplomatic on an age-old Italian debate, refusing to separate Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti.

“They’re two really good players. I don’t want to choose. I choose them both. They’re both really good.”

His words on Milan land pointedly on a day the club’s rebuild took shape elsewhere, with Ruben Amorim arriving in the city to begin exactly the kind of reset Pirlo describes.