Italy’s failure to qualify for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar means Mario Balotelli will remain their last goalscorer in the tournament until 2026, at the earliest.
The Italian striker netted the winning goal in the Azzurri’s 2-1 victory over Roy Hodgson’s England at the Arena da Amazônia in Brazil.
It was Italy’s opening game in the competition and spirits were high, but disastrous performances in the resulting two matches saw the team slip out of the World Cup after finishing third in the group, behind Costa Rice and Uruguay.
The debate surrounding Balotelli was high as Italy headed into this international break, with some fans feeling that he deserved a chance due to the Azzurri’s lacklustre options up front, whilst others felt like he was far past his best.
In the end, we’ll never know if Balotelli could have been the difference maker against North Macedonia, but that doesn’t change the fact that this will always be a talking point surrounding the failure to qualify.
And there are still people out these who think this clown should be playing fr Italy.
Strength, power, intimidation and aerial ability. He would have provided that. No one else could have. So yes he should have been there.
I agree MoE. He is also the only Italian striker who can score outside the box with his thunderbolts. This would have been very useful against a packed defence like Nth Macedonia’s. How the heck can Jeao Pedro get selected before Balotelli when you know the strike force is poor???
People will still be calling for Balotelli’s inclusion in 2050.
Weater you like him or nt i think super Mario Balotelli is the only good striker Italy got for now,I pray they get a better striker in the future! #FORZAMARIO