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'Disaster': Italy's fall guy for their World Cup flop
Daniella Matar, AP • April 2nd, 2026 8:38 am
Alessandro Bastoni | Photo: EPA
Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni was having a bad month even before he became the fall guy for Italy's latest failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Bastoni had already been getting booed regularly in Italy over his role in another sending-off, and the jeers aren't likely to stop after his straight red card in Wednesday's (NZ time) playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Azzurri went on to lose a penalty shootout to miss out on a third-straight World Cup.
The 26-year-old Bastoni was silent, dejected and downcast as he arrived back in Milan in the early hours of Thursday morning.
He was the last player to emerge from the terminal at Malpensa Airport, walking out on his own after his teammates had already got into waiting cars.
Italy had been leading playoff final 1-0 when Bastoni's ill-timed challenge shortly before halftime cost his team dearly.
With Amar Memic racing towards goal, Bastoni had recklessly slid in and brought down the Bosnia forward from behind.
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A straight red was inevitable and Bastoni didn't even protest, sitting on the field with head bowed.
Italy had to play the rest of the game with 10 men, including the 30 minutes of extra-time after Bosnia's late equaliser.
"Bastoni's 2026 is a disaster," stated an article in Italy's leading sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, before describing the red card as "an error that only fuels the debate on Bastoni's state of form and on his mental stability in moments of maximum pressure."
Even before the game, there had been calls in Italy for the Inter centre back to be dropped following an incident during their match against fierce rivals Juventus in February.
Bastoni caused widespread outrage when he went down under a tackle by Pierre Kalulu, leading to a second yellow card for the Juventus defender.
Television replays showed Bastoni had clearly dived in an attempt to get his opponent sent off but, as the incident was not a direct red card, VAR couldn't intervene or overturn the decision.
Bastoni's wild celebrations at Kalulu's second yellow card added to the furore — something he later apologised for. However, the damage was done, with the player and his family suffering a wave of vitriol and abuse on social media.
He's been loudly jeered by opposition fans in every stadium since then, and is unlikely to get a better reception in coming weeks.
