FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[dezoel]

Ranieri could have possibly led Italy to the world cup but since he rejected the offer, we can't question him but playfully, Italy's performance is becoming terrifying and they need a coach who has more experience and can apply some coaching skills to revive the team but for Gattuso, it will be a bigger mistake if he becomes Italy's National team coach, he is not capable of taking the Italian team to the world cup and from the look of things, it seems Italy may miss out of the world cup. When did Italy even deteriorated to this state they are now, they used to be one of the strong teams in the world cup but all of sudden things are getting worse for them.

Latest updates clearly indicating 73 years old Claudio Ranieri declines this job as he still wants to live at Rome with his new role in this club, and he is not going to guide Italy for this world cup because in his last 40 years of coaching career he never coach any national team.

Even he is man who can do things by his own his history is amazing with much success and surprising changes, but he already rejected this job which is huge disappointment for many back in Italy because recent results clearly showing things are getting worse and there is possibility if they fail to bring some improvement they could be out of another world cup. Lost against Norway with huge margin bringing chaos around Italy because now fear is increasing for another world cup without Italy things are looking for changes but no one coming in front for leading them back at the top of soccer world.

[babo]

Ranieri could have possibly led Italy to the world cup but since he rejected the offer, we can't question him but playfully, Italy's performance is becoming terrifying and they need a coach who has more experience and can apply some coaching skills to revive the team but for Gattuso, it will be a bigger mistake if he becomes Italy's National team coach, he is not capable of taking the Italian team to the world cup and from the look of things, it seems Italy may miss out of the world cup. When did Italy even deteriorated to this state they are now, they used to be one of the strong teams in the world cup but all of sudden things are getting worse for them.

Latest updates clearly indicating 73 years old Claudio Ranieri declines this job as he still wants to live at Rome with his new role in this club, and he is not going to guide Italy for this world cup because in his last 40 years of coaching career he never coach any national team.

Even he is man who can do things by his own his history is amazing with much success and surprising changes, but he already rejected this job which is huge disappointment for many back in Italy because recent results clearly showing things are getting worse and there is possibility if they fail to bring some improvement they could be out of another world cup. Lost against Norway with huge margin bringing chaos around Italy because now fear is increasing for another world cup without Italy things are looking for changes but no one coming in front for leading them back at the top of soccer world.

The new coach is Rino Gattuso, best wishes to him. In a sarcastic way of course, did I use sarcasm well? I hope so, I'm trying to learn the art of sarcasm even if it's difficult for me.
He has a broken team, little time and an impossible mission.
It doesn't make sense to change the coach at this time but that's fine

[X-ray]

Gattuso seems less suitable to be the coach of the Italian national team, although he is good as a player, it seems that in his career as a coach it is still not showing good results. I haven't followed the news about Gattuso for a long time after coaching Marseille, but in my opinion he might be the last option. It seems that Italy having a little trouble finding a coach, seen from the current condition where Rannieri are also rumored refused to coaching Italy.

That's a wrong decision by Italy to appoint Gattuso. I don't like the way he coached a football club. He's so harsh as a coach. I bet it won't actually work to fix Italy's problem. There are some names available such as DeRossi, Cannavaro, even Mancini. So why him?

It seems FIGC wants Italy becomes europe's Chile by appointing Gattuso. They will be missing WC three times in a row if Gattuso fails.

[Ale88]

I'm Italian and trust me, I have no hopes that we can qualify directly to the World Cup: Norway already scored a ton of goals, beat us 3-0, and already won away against Israel and Estonia, even if we beat them at home and win all the other matches we should score so many goals that is difficult to believe it

Are you confident in your chances if you need to go through the play-off round? I'm not familiar with other European countries, but it's hard to imagine Italy failing to win against teams like Romania, Albania, etc (probably because I don't know any star player from there). On paper, they should have good chances. CMIIW.

Few years ago we lost against Northern Macedonia, which I don't think is any better than Romania or Albania. And we actually met Albania at the last Euro Cup and we barely won 2-1 so right now, with this team, there is nothing that I would take for granted. And one of the teams we may face at the playoffs is Sweden, they already eliminated us in a World Cup playoff back in 2018.
So, to answer your question, do I think we can still qualify directly? Absolutely not. Through the playoffs? Yes. Would I bet on Italy participating in the next World Cup? No.

[snipie]

That's a wrong decision by Italy to appoint Gattuso. I don't like the way he coached a football club. He's so harsh as a coach. I bet it won't actually work to fix Italy's problem. There are some names available such as DeRossi, Cannavaro, even Mancini. So why him?

It seems FIGC wants Italy becomes europe's Chile by appointing Gattuso. They will be missing WC three times in a row if Gattuso fails.

What we know so far is that Claudio Ranieri and Stefano Pioli refused to train the Italian national team. I assume they aren't sure if it is possible to save Italy and make it qualify to FIFA World Cup.
Gattuso isn't the best coach and he already failed with Marseille, yet he will have a better selection with the national team and he will most likely has few good pals helping him like Leonardo Bonucci, Gianluca Zambrotta and Simone Perrotta.

[X-ray]

That's a wrong decision by Italy to appoint Gattuso. I don't like the way he coached a football club. He's so harsh as a coach. I bet it won't actually work to fix Italy's problem. There are some names available such as DeRossi, Cannavaro, even Mancini. So why him?

It seems FIGC wants Italy becomes europe's Chile by appointing Gattuso. They will be missing WC three times in a row if Gattuso fails.

What we know so far is that Claudio Ranieri and Stefano Pioli refused to train the Italian national team. I assume they aren't sure if it is possible to save Italy and make it qualify to FIFA World Cup.
Gattuso isn't the best coach and he already failed with Marseille, yet he will have a better selection with the national team and he will most likely has few good pals helping him like Leonardo Bonucci, Gianluca Zambrotta and Simone Perrotta.

Gattuso has failed in so many clubs in a row. It's obviously a risky choice by Italy. I think he's even worst than Italy's last choice. Apponting him as a manager is obviously the lowest point reached by Italy ever.

He's never had good result in major team in the entire of his career. So i think this is very wrong to take him as a new manager. I think italy may not qualify again because of this.

[SquallLeonhart]

What we know so far is that Claudio Ranieri and Stefano Pioli refused to train the Italian national team. I assume they aren't sure if it is possible to save Italy and make it qualify to FIFA World Cup.
Gattuso isn't the best coach and he already failed with Marseille, yet he will have a better selection with the national team and he will most likely has few good pals helping him like Leonardo Bonucci, Gianluca Zambrotta and Simone Perrotta.

Sacking of Luciano Spalletti was wrong decision by the Italian federation because he can do better in coming days just one defeat has surely never been problem while things were on their lowest level for Italy now they are looking for spot into World Cup 2026 but this defeat and change of coach create some doubts on their chances.

Few big names already rejected this chance while few not considered even they were looking much better than Gattuso who is having first time at this job while his record in clubs are also not good which can give any encouragement for Italians to have better chance of qualification. Gattuso had not enough time for doing things on balance which is the problem for him, but they can do some good in coming matches which will surely give them good confidence if they are able to have better results and chance of qualification.

[Arenga pinnata]

Gattuso seems less suitable to be the coach of the Italian national team, although he is good as a player, it seems that in his career as a coach it is still not showing good results. I haven't followed the news about Gattuso for a long time after coaching Marseille, but in my opinion he might be the last option. It seems that Italy having a little trouble finding a coach, seen from the current condition where Rannieri are also rumored refused to coaching Italy.

That's a wrong decision by Italy to appoint Gattuso. I don't like the way he coached a football club. He's so harsh as a coach. I bet it won't actually work to fix Italy's problem. There are some names available such as DeRossi, Cannavaro, even Mancini. So why him?

It seems FIGC wants Italy becomes europe's Chile by appointing Gattuso. They will be missing WC three times in a row if Gattuso fails.

After several coaches rejected the offer to become coach of the Italian national team, I think that was the last choice made by Italy. And in terms of his track record during his time as a coach, Gennaro Gattuso has not had many good results at several of the clubs he has coached.

Maybe he got a little success when he coached Napoli and succeeded in bringing Napoli to become champions in the Coppa Italia. After that I don't know whether Gennaro Gattuso had any other achievements apart from his time at Napoli at that time.

And the reality is that not all great players can become great coaches.

[masulum]

After several coaches rejected the offer to become coach of the Italian national team, I think that was the last choice made by Italy. And in terms of his track record during his time as a coach, Gennaro Gattuso has not had many good results at several of the clubs he has coached.

Maybe he got a little success when he coached Napoli and succeeded in bringing Napoli to become champions in the Coppa Italia. After that I don't know whether Gennaro Gattuso had any other achievements apart from his time at Napoli at that time.

And the reality is that not all great players can become great coaches.

Italy lost the trust of top coaches in their country. FIGC decision to make Gattuso a coach was not only rejected by fans, but former Italian national team players also criticized the risk of this decision. Italy wants to qualify for the World Cup, but their coach is still need more proof if he have ability to bring his team to the top. On the other hand, when he was fired, Spaletti also said that the Italian national team players were not ready to play at a high level. Do you think this is true?

The first title won by Gattuso was not enough to prove that he was a successful coach. So far, none of the coaches from former AC Milan players have had good careers.

[Accardo]

Few big names already rejected this chance while few not considered even they were looking much better than Gattuso who is having first time at this job while his record in clubs are also not good which can give any encouragement for Italians to have better chance of qualification. Gattuso had not enough time for doing things on balance which is the problem for him, but they can do some good in coming matches which will surely give them good confidence if they are able to have better results and chance of qualification.

Gabriele Gravina the president of FIGC praised him as a symbol of Italian football, and he trusts Gattuso's motivation and professionalism, also the experience he's got from other clubs which may not be satisfactory to fans. But, the Italian Football federation doesn't have all the time to wait for the right person to do the job, more than two appointees turned them down already, they must start from somewhere. The task ahead is complicated for the Italians who need more goals to stay alive in the group stage, and Gattuso's presence there isn't enough, yet it's better than going for someone who is worse and inexperienced.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Gabriele Gravina the president of FIGC praised him as a symbol of Italian football, and he trusts Gattuso's motivation and professionalism, also the experience he's got from other clubs which may not be satisfactory to fans. But, the Italian Football federation doesn't have all the time to wait for the right person to do the job, more than two appointees turned them down already, they must start from somewhere. The task ahead is complicated for the Italians who need more goals to stay alive in the group stage, and Gattuso's presence there isn't enough, yet it's better than going for someone who is worse and inexperienced.

It's just another BS from FIGC president.

Public knew very well how terrible Gattuso is by seeing his track record in coaching football club. They never willing to see him to coach the club because's he's a complete disaster. This pretty obvious how italy will end in massive disaster because of having him as the head coach.
FIGC must be ready to get some high quality memes because of their terrible management decided to appoint him.

Italy is literally doomed by having Gattuso as a coach.

[Sithara007]

It's just another BS from FIGC president.

Public knew very well how terrible Gattuso is by seeing his track record in coaching football club. They never willing to see him to coach the club because's he's a complete disaster. This pretty obvious how italy will end in massive disaster because of having him as the head coach.
FIGC must be ready to get some high quality memes because of their terrible management decided to appoint him.

Italy is literally doomed by having Gattuso as a coach.

LOL.. nice to see so many posts about Gennaro Gattuso. My take on this is somewhat different from yours. Italy has been on a downward journey for quite sometime now. What's wrong in trying out someone who is a bit distinct, such as Gattuso? From what I can see, he has managed teams in every nook and corner of Europe, such as AC Milan, Napoli, Valencia and Marseille. His last assignment was with the Croatian club Hajduk Split, and to his credit that club is performing decently as of now.

[Jatiluhung]

LOL.. nice to see so many posts about Gennaro Gattuso. My take on this is somewhat different from yours. Italy has been on a downward journey for quite sometime now. What's wrong in trying out someone who is a bit distinct, such as Gattuso? From what I can see, he has managed teams in every nook and corner of Europe, such as AC Milan, Napoli, Valencia and Marseille. His last assignment was with the Croatian club Hajduk Split, and to his credit that club is performing decently as of now.

I think it's quite natural that there are people who don't agree with Gattuso being appointed as the new coach of the Italian national team. But I also agree with you that there is no harm in trying someone who may be different from what other people expect. Which means that it is possible that the success of the Italian national team came from Gattuso's hands. Well who knows if that might happen, right? But what is clear is that we cannot judge from now on. We might be able to start assessing when Gattuso starts accompanying the Italian national team in several upcoming matches. And we will see the results and then we can comment.

[Unsoldier]

Gattuso seems less suitable to be the coach of the Italian national team, although he is good as a player, it seems that in his career as a coach it is still not showing good results. I haven't followed the news about Gattuso for a long time after coaching Marseille, but in my opinion he might be the last option. It seems that Italy having a little trouble finding a coach, seen from the current condition where Rannieri are also rumored refused to coaching Italy.

That's a wrong decision by Italy to appoint Gattuso. I don't like the way he coached a football club. He's so harsh as a coach. I bet it won't actually work to fix Italy's problem. There are some names available such as DeRossi, Cannavaro, even Mancini. So why him?

It seems FIGC wants Italy becomes europe's Chile by appointing Gattuso. They will be missing WC three times in a row if Gattuso fails.

After several coaches rejected the offer to become coach of the Italian national team, I think that was the last choice made by Italy. And in terms of his track record during his time as a coach, Gennaro Gattuso has not had many good results at several of the clubs he has coached.

Maybe he got a little success when he coached Napoli and succeeded in bringing Napoli to become champions in the Coppa Italia. After that I don't know whether Gennaro Gattuso had any other achievements apart from his time at Napoli at that time.

And the reality is that not all great players can become great coaches.

Fair point about his coaching record, but with Gattuso, it’s not just about tactics or trophies. The man once played nearly a full match on a torn ACL and didn’t even tell anyone until the final whistle. That’s not normal — that’s pure willpower. He’s built different, like his father used to say: a carpenter doesn’t talk much but gets the job done. Maybe that grit is what Italy needs right now.

[Sim_card]

Gattuso seems less suitable to be the coach of the Italian national team, although he is good as a player, it seems that in his career as a coach it is still not showing good results. I haven't followed the news about Gattuso for a long time after coaching Marseille, but in my opinion he might be the last option. It seems that Italy having a little trouble finding a coach, seen from the current condition where Rannieri are also rumored refused to coaching Italy.

That's a wrong decision by Italy to appoint Gattuso. I don't like the way he coached a football club. He's so harsh as a coach. I bet it won't actually work to fix Italy's problem. There are some names available such as DeRossi, Cannavaro, even Mancini. So why him?

It seems FIGC wants Italy becomes europe's Chile by appointing Gattuso. They will be missing WC three times in a row if Gattuso fails.

You should know that Gattuso is harsh in nature and we saw that when he was a player. I don't also buy the idea of choosing him as the Italian national team coach because I don't think that he is fit for the job. There are other coaches that should be considered if Italy wants to really strengthen their national team to be in a good form so that they can go far in the world cup.

[masulum]

Fair point about his coaching record, but with Gattuso, it’s not just about tactics or trophies. The man once played nearly a full match on a torn ACL and didn’t even tell anyone until the final whistle. That’s not normal — that’s pure willpower. He’s built different, like his father used to say: a carpenter doesn’t talk much but gets the job done. Maybe that grit is what Italy needs right now.

All of us really knows about Gattuso mentality, that become of the reasons I liked him when he was at Milan. But the problem now is that FIGC is taking this step like placing a big bet for their country. If we only hope for past stories without any guarantee of good results on the field, the risk is that Italy will fail to qualify for the World Cup. And if that happens, all the stories about Gattuso determination and even as a "fighters" will be meaningless to the Italian public and fans around the world. Well, the decision was made, Gattuso was already the current Italy coach, all the best for Italy.

[ILuckyGuyI]

It's just another BS from FIGC president.

Public knew very well how terrible Gattuso is by seeing his track record in coaching football club. They never willing to see him to coach the club because's he's a complete disaster. This pretty obvious how italy will end in massive disaster because of having him as the head coach.
FIGC must be ready to get some high quality memes because of their terrible management decided to appoint him.

Italy is literally doomed by having Gattuso as a coach.

I can't be sure if they'll be doomed or what. But I can agree with you on one thing certainly. He is definitely an average coach. 

He managed Marseille, Napoli and Milan as big clubs. And I can't count any of it as really good. He couldn't even qualify for the Champions League.

This is his 1st time ever managing a national team. We'll see if there'll be anything surprising...

[Nahl]

During his career as a manager Gattuso never last long in the particular clubs even the latest is he was messed up in Marseille which caused this team not qualified to the champion league and now surprisingly football federation of Italy has been choose him as Italy manager which this move is very risky
As far as i know Italy not qualified to the world cup 2 times in a row 2018 and 2022 so Italy people are expect this time their country can playing again at the world cup and Italian fans has high expectation to Gatusso

[Ale88]

During his career as a manager Gattuso never last long in the particular clubs even the latest is he was messed up in Marseille which caused this team not qualified to the champion league and now surprisingly football federation of Italy has been choose him as Italy manager which this move is very risky
As far as i know Italy not qualified to the world cup 2 times in a row 2018 and 2022 so Italy people are expect this time their country can playing again at the world cup and Italian fans has high expectation to Gatusso

I'm Italian and let me tell you that nobody, I repeat, nobody, has high expectations with Gattuso. The problem is that the national team, right now, is so bad that nobody wants to be manager when usually managing your own country should be an honor. Experienced managers like Ranieri and Pioli declined, many others are not available because they just changed team or signed new contracts, Ancelotti gave his word to Brazil, at the end there were Gattuso, Cannavaro and a few other names. Bad names. The only hope is that Gattuso can somehow motivate the players but, as I was saying, the players are pretty bad so if we don't qualify again I wouldn't blame Gattuso, I would blame the whole Italian football federation because they had years and years to change something and they didn't.

[JeffBrad12]

I'm Italian and let me tell you that nobody, I repeat, nobody, has high expectations with Gattuso. The problem is that the national team, right now, is so bad that nobody wants to be manager when usually managing your own country should be an honor. Experienced managers like Ranieri and Pioli declined, many others are not available because they just changed team or signed new contracts, Ancelotti gave his word to Brazil, at the end there were Gattuso, Cannavaro and a few other names. Bad names. The only hope is that Gattuso can somehow motivate the players but, as I was saying, the players are pretty bad so if we don't qualify again I wouldn't blame Gattuso, I would blame the whole Italian football federation because they had years and years to change something and they didn't.

There's nothing to expect from FGIC as they never had long-term vision to their national squad. Gattuso is showing how FGIC is not even ready in managing the national squad. They have years to prepare, but clueless in the end.
I respect you as Italian, but your football federation is terrible, bruh. Gravina needs to be changed. Hope italy can play in the WC after they missed it two times in a row. I can only hope Gattuso to bring a miracle.