Why is Italy Not in the 2022 World Cup?

The 2022 FIFA World Cup officially kicks off this weekend in Qatar. The 32 participating nations are gearing up for their first matches, but one squad will notably be absent.

Italy, one of the world's soccer powerhouses, won't be participating in the 2022 World Cup. Fans who didn't follow UEFA qualifying are certainly curious why Italy isn't vying for the trophy this year.

Why is Italy Not in the World Cup 2022?

Italy had a solid run in UEFA World Cup qualifiers, which featured many of Europe's top nations. Italy finished 4-4-0 (W-D-L) during qualifying, putting them second in Group C behind 5-3-0 Switzerland.

Every first-place team in each of the 10 groups automatically qualified for the 2022 World Cup. The second-place finishers, meanwhile, were sent to the UEFA World Cup Play-offs to vie for the three final spots in the WC.

Since Italy ended up second in Group C, they were entered into the play-offs and given the No. 3 seed. They faced 9-seed North Macedonia on March 24, 2022 for a chance to make the final and clinch a World Cup spot. However, North Macdeonia defeated them 1-0, officially ending their hopes of making it to Qatar.

Italy World Cup History

Italy's absence at the World Cup is sizable given their soccer history. Italy has qualified for 18 out of 22 World Cups that have been held in history. They've appeared in the championship six times and won four trophies, the most recent being in 2006. Their four World Cup titles tie them with Germany for the second most all-time, just behind Brazil (5).

Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

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