Gattuso Reflects on Italy's World Cup Miss and Coaching Transition
Gennaro Gattuso says missing the 2026 World Cup with Italy has left a mark that will never fade.
The former Azzurri coach, who resigned in April just days after a bruising playoff defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina, spoke openly about the failure after starting his new life at Lazio with a 1-0 win away to Bologna in Serie A.
“I had 10 wonderful months,” Gattuso reflected. “The lads I coached gave me their all. And it's a wound that will remain for as long as I live, because it was a deep wound.”
No attempt to soften it. No excuses. For a World Cup winner in 2006, to be the man on the touchline as Italy missed a third straight men’s World Cup has become a defining, painful line on his coaching résumé.
Gattuso steps aside, Mancini returns
Gattuso walked away in the aftermath of the Bosnia-Herzegovina defeat, and the Italian Football Federation moved back to a familiar face. In July, Roberto Mancini was reappointed as head coach, returning to the job he held from 2018 to 2023.
Mancini’s first spell brought the high of Euro 2020 glory, followed by the low of failing to reach the 2022 World Cup. Now he inherits a national team still reeling from another missed tournament and a fan base running low on patience.
Gattuso, though, had no hesitation in backing his successor.
“I'd say he is a great coach with a wealth of experience,” he said. “He's a great manager; he's someone who has already won with the national team, and I obviously wish him all the best from the bottom of my heart.”
The message was clear: whatever the scars of his own tenure, the shirt comes first.
A bench that many wanted – and many turned down
Mancini’s return was not the federation’s first idea.
Andrea Pirlo initially emerged as the leading candidate after high-profile moves for Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola were rejected. Pirlo’s appointment seemed close, only for talks to collapse over complications tied to an existing sponsorship deal with a betting company.
Behind the scenes, there was another powerful voice pushing a different route. Lega Serie A president Ezio Maria Simonelli revealed the league strongly favoured bringing back Antonio Conte for a second spell in charge. The federation ultimately chose Mancini instead, opting for continuity of ideas over a more combative reset.
So Italy go back to a coach who knows the environment, the pressure, and the size of the repair job.
Lazio for Gattuso, a rebuilding job for Italy
Gattuso has already thrown himself into his new project. He signed with Lazio in June and wasted no time in redirecting his energy to club football, the Bologna win offering a clean, sharp starting point after months dominated by the national team’s failure.
Italy, though, cannot escape the bigger picture. A giant of the game has sat out three consecutive World Cups. The margin for error has vanished.
Simonelli has called on every corner of Italian football to close ranks around Mancini as the Azzurri move into their next cycle. The first checkpoint comes quickly: the UEFA Nations League, with Belgium waiting on September 25.
It is not a trophy that defines eras, but it is a stage. For Mancini, it is the first chance to restore a little pride, to steady a shaken dressing room, and to convince a sceptical country that Italy can still climb back to the summit of the international game.
The scar Gattuso talks about will not disappear. The question now is whether Mancini’s second act can stop it from becoming part of a deeper, darker pattern.
