The highs and lows: Italy’s Euro 2024 qualifiers vs England and North Macedonia

As if by fate, Italy will face two teams in their Euro 2024 qualifiers that exemplify their the highest and lowest points in the last few years, Apollo Heyes writes.

The Azzurri were like a phoenix rising from the ashes of their failed World Cup qualification bid in 2018, with Roberto Mancini at the helm ready to bring glory back to the team again after the pain of the previous November. After less than a year in the job, the former Inter and Manchester City coach started a winning streak that would last for three years, taking the Azzurri to their first honour in over a decade.

The importance of Italy’s success at Euro 2020 cannot be understated. The tournament thrust Italy back into the limelight once again and allowed the country to share in a special moment after an incredibly difficult 18-month period, making football the reason many in the peninsula could smile once more.

A special wind blew in Wembley on a warm July evening last year, when Italy and England lined up for the Euro 2020 final. The atmosphere in West London was palpable and it was a symbolic evening for both teams; for Italy, the confirmation of their rebirth under Mancini and the reward for such a difficult journey, and for England, the chance to finally taste glory once again, lifting a little weigh off 1966.

The match started anything but positive for Italy, who almost immediately conceded after Luke Shaw finished a fast counter-attack. It was a wakeup call for Mancini and his squad, who knuckled down and gritted their teeth ahead of a long and tiring evening. The Azzurri finally found an equaliser not long after the hour-mark, with Leonardo Bonucci poking the ball home after it ricocheted off the post. 

Neither side could find a winner for the remainder of the match and an incredibly tense period of extra time followed, where things stayed much the same as both teams started to prepare for the dreaded penalty shootout. Andrea Belotti’s miss on the second kick frightened Italy but poor penalties from Marcos Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were enough to win it for the Azzurri.

It had been 15 years since Italy had lifted the World Cup in Berlin and the team had been in somewhat of a downward spiral since then, with Euro 2012 and 2016 being the only somewhat bright spots in a relatively miserable decade for the national team. Lifting the trophy in Wembley was the perfect reward for Mancini and the team’s growth and Italy were back on the main stage once again.

Italy’s 37-game unbeaten run finally came to an end after the tournament, with Italy losing 2-1 to Spain in the Final Four stage of the Nations League. The team were still certain that 2022 World Cup qualification was all but in the bag, but draws against Switzerland and Northern Ireland in the final two games left them second in the group, forcing them to face the playoffs once again.

The Azzurri were drawn into Path C of the World Cup play-offs and had to beat North Macedonia before facing one of Portugal or Turkey in the final. Most looked ahead to the probable game against the Euro 2016 champions, expecting to see the two most recent European champions battling out it for the ticket to Qatar. 

As we all now know, things didn’t go that way. Portugal upheld their end of this bargain, securing a 3-1 win over Turkey, and they likely expected a tough clash against Italy in the final. But in Palermo, the highs of the previous summer were forgotten in a disastrous evening for Mancini and his squad.

The only concerning aspect for Italy during their 37-game unbeaten run was the lack of a consistent goalscorer, a role that Ciro Immobile or Andrea Belotti couldn’t fill despite their best efforts. The noise surrounding this issue began to grow louder and louder as the 90 minutes ticked by in Palermo and it ultimately punished them as North Macedonia netted a 92nd minute winner, breaking hearts across the Italian peninsula in an instant. 

In the resulting hours, nostalgia was already growing for the highs of the previous summer, a place that seemed a million miles away from where the Azzurri found themselves now. Again, the bitter taste of failure lingered in the mouths of all. North Macedonia found themselves in dreamland, and Italy left to languish in the depths with a familiar, bleeding wound. 

Now, Italy find themselves facing the two teams that exemplify their highest and lowest points in recent memory, ready to show that the summer of 2021 wasn’t just an anomaly in their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.