‘Noooooooo’ – Italian papers in state of shock after North Macedonia loss as they say Mancini’s side have ‘gone to hell’

ITALY and Roberto Mancini have been slammed by the Italian press after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

The Azzurri were heavy favourites going into their home tie against North Macedonia before Igor Angelovski's side pulled off a shock victory.

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Italy had 65 per cent possession and 32 shots to show for their dominance before Aleksandar Trajkovski scored a brilliant stoppage-time winner to prevent the European champions from qualifying for a second successive World Cup.

They were beaten by Sweden in the play-offs for the 2018 World Cup and their exit means Italy will have failed to play a World Cup knock-out game for 20 years.

Their last taste of the latter stages came in 2006 when they lifted the trophy in Germany - now they will have to wait until 2026 to have a shot at the knock-out rounds.

Unsurprisingly, that has sparked an emotional reaction from media in Italy with Tuttosport leading with a headline of: "Nooooooooo!"

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Equally dramatic was Corriere dello Sport's front page headline that reads: "To hell."

Jorginho and Euro 2020 hero Gianluigi Donnarumma are seen hanging their heads in shame, though manager Mancini feels his players were unlucky.

After all, Italy remained undefeated in their qualifying group, with Switzerland beating them to top spot in Group C by two points.

Mancini has lost just four games as Italy boss in 47 games and had never lost a qualifier before the North Macedonia match.

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But Gazzetta dello Sport suggests Mancini will still have to consider resigning as their headline read: "Out of the World Cup."

Mancini said of his future and the defeat: "We will see. I think everyone is too disappointed right now to talk about the future.

"Just as the Euros was the most wonderful experience of my life, this was the biggest disappointment.

"We can say nothing, that is football, sometimes incredible things happen and it happened.

"We shouldn't have been here in the first place, but we did everything we could to win and it's hard to even talk about it.

"This is a group of fine players and I am sorry for them."