Italy Miss Out on World Cup Spot For First Time in Over Half a Century

It was back in September that the president of the Italian Football Association had said that not qualifying for next year's FIFA World Cup would be "an apocalypse" for the four-time World Cup winners.On Monday, it was as if the four horsemen had ridden into Milan as the Azzurri failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958 after a playoff defeat against Sweden.
Italy will not be the only major nation missing from next year's tournament in Russia, which starts on June 14.
The Netherlands, back-to-back South American champions Chile, the United States, which had been a fixture at the finals for the last seven tournaments, and Euro 2016 semifinalists Wales have all failed to qualify.