Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso warns he’ll move far away from Italy if the Azzurri fail to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso has issued a stark warning, stating he’ll move far away from Italy if the Azzurri fail to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. This comes after Italy secured a play-off placement in the World Cup qualifiers, beating Israel 3-0 in Udine.

Gattuso has won his opening four games as the Azzurri coach, seeing Italy score 16 times. However, he’s clear that he’ll only take credit if the team achieves its goal of qualifying for the World Cup. “I’ll take credit if I can reach the target; otherwise, I’ll move away from Italy,” Gattuso said.

The Azzurri coach had been appointed in June to replace Luciano Spalletti and made his debut last month, also against Estonia and Israel. Gattuso praised his team’s performance, saying, “Yesterday I said it was a dream to be here, and it’s true. Some people are more experienced than I, and this is why I got this call with great responsibility.”

Gattuso highlighted areas where his team can improve, stating, “I have the feeling that the team becomes fearful when we concede something. We must improve in this aspect; we should not hold back when we are under pressure.”

Italy will face Moldova and Norway in November, but qualifying for the World Cup as group winners seems unlikely due to Norway’s favorable goal difference. Gattuso sees this as an opportunity to rotate his squad and involve players who haven’t gotten much playing time.

Gattuso concluded, “We’ll travel a lot, but the principle remains the same: the national team doors are open to those who do well.” The Azzurri’s next games will be crucial in determining their World Cup fate.