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North Macedonia caused a major upset as they knocked Euro 2020 winners Italy out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. This will be the second World Cup in a row which will not feature the four-time world champions.
The Italian side completely dominated the game, taking 32 shots in 90 minutes. However, they failed to score past goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski. Against the run of play, North Macedonian winger Aleksandar Trajkovski scored an injury-time winner to send his side to the final of the World Cup Qualifiers playoffs.
Trajkovski's late winner instigated celebrations in the North Macedonia dressing room. The video for the same can be seen below:
This is the second time Italy have lost in the playoffs of World Cup Qualifiers. The Euro 2020 winners were defeated by Sweden in the playoffs back in 2017.
North Macedonia, meanwhile, will now be looking to have an even bigger cause for celebration when they face Portugal for a place in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Portugal secured a routine 3-1 win over Turkey in their World Cup Qualifier game in Porto on Thursday.
It is worth mentioning that the Balkan nation have never qualified for the World Cup in their entire history since they broke away from Yugoslavia.
Italy lost just once in their entire World Cup Qualifiers campaign
Despite only losing once in their entire World Cup Qualifiers campaign, Roberto Mancini's side have failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. The only game they lost was against North Macedonia in the playoff semifinals.
The Euro 2020 winners had an unbeaten group phase in their qualifying campaign. However, they drew four out of their eight group matches, including a 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland in their last group match. As a result, Switzerland topped the group and booked their spot in this year's showpiece tournament in Qatar.
Italy will now have to wait until 2026 to play in a FIFA World Cup which will be contested in North America. The Azzurri will have a better chance of making it through to the tournament since the World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams instead of 32.
Italy are the joint second-most successful side in FIFA World Cup history. The Italians, along with Germany, have lifted the World Cup four times. They only trail South American giants Brazil, who have won the tournament five times.
