Will Italy Qualifying For Euro 2028 Be Enough to Silence The Doubters? | OneFootball

For a nation that’s lifted the World Cup four times, Italy have spent the last decade or so in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable place: on the outside looking in. The 2026 World Cup was the third World Cup they’d failed to qualify for in a row, after also being absent from the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

It was confirmation that the problems running through Italian football are deep-rooted and structural rather than being a case of bad luck. So if the Azzurri manage to qualify for Euro 2028, the question will be what this means in terms of previous failings and the future.

Painful Recent History

The scale of the decline of the Italian national team is hard to overstate. Three straight World Cup absences and a stumble at the last European Championships, a tournament they entered as defending champions, plus a raft of nervy performances that the Italy of old would have dealt with easily have combined to dramatically reduce the aura the Azzurri carried for decades.

Fans have watched a golden generation of Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and co retire without a new wave of players coming behind them, while the domestic game has struggled to produce players at the level required. Every fresh disappointment reopens the same wounds, with the patience and trust of supporters wearing thin. Change was called for, and change has since happened.

Change At Every Level

To the Italian Football Federation’s credit, they’ve not simply shuffled the deck this time. Italy are still considered a feared nation according to football betting online, but there’s a long way to go to get back to anywhere near the level they used to be at, something the Italian Football Federation recognises.

With sweeping changes across the board, the hope is that rebuilding from the bottom up will eventually lead to Italy retaking their place at the top table of international football. But during the rebuild, Italy will still need to qualify for major tournaments such as Euro 2028 as the bare minimum.

Why A Guardiola-Like Appointment Is Key

BURNLEY, ENGLAND – APRIL 22: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Burnley and Manchester City at Turf Moor on April 22, 2026 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

The Italian Football Federation will show they mean business when they hire the man to lead the national team into Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup. Their pursuit of a genuine elite-level head coach will make their ambition clear, with Pep Guardiola said to be their primary target. Appointing Guardiola, a serial winner, or someone of his calibre, would signal that Italy want to be a nation to be reckoned with once again, similarly to Germany, who have hired Jürgen Klopp after several years of disappointments at major tournaments.

Final Thoughts

Italy failing to qualify for the last three World Cups is arguably the most significant failure by an international team in recent history. And, in many ways, it sounds so bad because of what Italy have achieved before, such as winning World Cups and the Euros. Now it’s time for the Italian Football Federation to overhaul the national set-up from top to bottom, rather than continuing to paper over cracks, which should lead to better times in the years to come. Qualifying for and performing well at Euro 2028 will be a good start, but it’d only be a start, as making it to the 2030 World Cup is the big one.