There was glory for the 40-year-old Edin Dzeko, who will become one of the oldest outfield players to contest a World Cup. To the fury of the Italian players and bench, Tarik Muharemovic was shown only a yellow card for chopping down substitute Marco Palestra as he charged through. When the shoot-out came, Bosnia scored all four of their kicks while Francesco Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante missed for Italy. Those Italy players who were filmed celebrating Bosnia’s win over Wales in the play-off semi-finals last Thursday will regret it for some time. When clubs show no interest in developing promising young Italian players and instead fill their teams with average or ageing players from overseas on free transfers, this is the result.

Source: Daily Mail April 01, 2026 01:36 UTC