Italy had the fate in their hands during the World Cup qualification phase but missed out on Qatar 2022 due to some crucial errors, including Jorginho’s mistakes from the spot against Switzerland.
The Chelsea playmaker fluffed two penalty kicks in two games against the Swiss during the qualification group forcing the Azzurri to two draws. The ex-Napoli and Hellas Verona star is aware of how heavy those two mistakes were for the Azzurri, saying that the remembrance will haunt him for the rest of his life. However, Jorginho is not the only one to blame for the Azzurri’s second successive World Cup fiasco, as many other errors cost Italy the qualification.
Italy vs. Bulgaria 1-1: Florenzi
September 2021, Italy’s first match as European champions. Federico Chiesa put the Azzurri ahead after 16 minutes, but Atanas Iliev levelled the score before the break making the most of a defensive mistake by Alessandro Florenzi that paved the way for Kiril Despodov’s assist from the left.
Switzerland-Italy 0-0: Berardi and Jorginho
The Azzurri visited Switzerland three days later, picking up a 0-0 draw. Before Jorginho’s error in the second half, Domenico Berardi missed a huge chance inside the box, failing to find the net after a great assist from Manuel Locatelli. In a way, it was even easier than a penalty kick, but Yann Sommer managed to deny the Sassuolo winger before saving Jorginho’s penalty.
Italy-Switzerland 1-1: Barella and Jorginho
Two months later (November 12) the Azzurri hosted Switzerland at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Their goalkeeper Sommer was once again decisive. Italy went one goal down in the first half, but Giovanni Di Lorenzo equalised before the break. Nicolò Barella had another chance to find the net a few minutes before Di Lorenzo’s goal. Jorginho then missed his third consecutive penalty with the Azzurri in the second half sending it over the crossbar.
Italy-North Macedonia 0-1: Berardi
Italy dominated the match, had 32 shots, five on target, but North Macedonia needed just two to score the winner. Of all the chances created by Italy, the most incredible was probably the one for Berardi, who intercepted a pass of Stole Dimitrievski but somehow managed not to find the net with a weak shot on an empty target, saved by the North Macedonia goalkeeper.