For Spalletti's Italy it was defeat in Oslo against Norway. And the 2026 World Cup is already far away

OSLO - Overwhelmed and abandoned. This is Italy in Oslo, which will perhaps go down in the history of our football, because this night will be difficult to forget, from a footballing point of view, even if it is added to the many already bitter ones experienced by this team in the last twenty years, with the exception of the European ride of 2021, which today perhaps hurts even more to remember. Overwhelmed by Haaland and his teammates, who thus put more than a mortgage on direct qualification for the tripartite 2026 World Cup; Abandoned by many, too many players (who turn out to be touchy, touchy or simply sore on the very days in which they have to wear blue) and by a football system that is increasingly struggling to mask its contradictions and its livelihoods (to say the least, the presentation of the Serie A calendar two hours before this challenge, to which many of the Azzurri's hopes for the World Cup were tied, was inopportune and inelegant, to be explicit). In short, all the premises for the defeat were there, and they have punctually materialised, beyond and far beyond the faults of Luciano Spalletti, whose nervous smiles and venomous jokes in recent days have hinted at fears and nervousness. On Monday we host Moldova, the first stage of that long purgatory that will lead us to the playoffs, as it seems frankly unthinkable that this Italy team can overturn the defeat at the Ullevaal Stadion on 16 November, when the Norwegians will visit us.

Hugs and thrills - Three times they went to the World Cup, the Norwegians (1938-1994-1998); three times they met us; three times they lost. It is therefore normal that the desire for revenge of the team led by Stale Solbakken (on the field in Marseille in '98 in the challenge decided by Vieri; his son plays in Pisa) is definitely significant. During the warm-up - also in the pouring rain - the hosts make a circle and all embrace each other; meanwhile, we set our eyes on Diego Coppola, class of 2003, 193 centimetres, at his debut after the good championship with Verona and the good tests in the Under-21. He will be up against Erling Haaland. In the meantime, the Norwegian torch is roaring in the Ullevaal Stadion, 25 thousand seats sold out days ago for the challenge against the Azzurri. Exceptional spectator, in the grandstand, King Harald V himself.

We the ball, they the goals - Luciano Spalletti opted to start with Raspadori in the starting line-up and Frattesi on the bench, thus launching a 3-5-1-1 with the aim of having the two-time Neapolitan top scorer in Serie A, Retegui, on his back; but also wanting to ensure greater linearity in a midfield that saw Barella and Tonali in the middle around Rovella. The Norwegians willingly gave us the ball away, ready to press on any slightest uncertainty, and in the 10th minute Nusa got rid of Zappacosta and aimed towards Donnarumma: Bastoni closed down and almost on the restart a dangerous action escaped us with Raspadori. But the mistake came four minutes later: Bastoni himself miscued a throw towards Zappacosta, Nusa intercepted and set up Sorloth on the edge of the offside line: Coppola failed to close it down, and the Atletico Madrid bomber mocked Donnarumma with a left-footed touch under the goal.

Meltdown - Norway ahead, and Spalletti's grim look clearly portrays the Azzurri's moment. It was Solbakken's men who played 'Italian style', while we, despite our considerable ball possession, were unable to create any danger in Nyland's side: the first shot was a high diagonal by Raspadori in the 25th minute. The plot of the match seemed to be defined: in the 31st, again on a mistake this time by Di Lorenzo, Odegaard again set up Sorloth, and it took Donnarumma's big hand to save for a corner. But in the 33rd minute Haaland touched his first ball, adjusting Nyland's throw for Nusa: the Leipzig forward did the rest: he slalomed and hit the ball past Gigio: 2-0 to them, and the second ball the City striker touched was the 3-0 one, in the 41st minute, dribbling past Donnarumma to slot in Odegaard's vertical assist. The Vikings now dominated, and for us, with the journey only just begun, the World Cup2026 already seemed a long way off. In the second half came Berge's post, which added nothing to the evening. Italy was lost in Oslo, and from here it is really hard to imagine when (and if) we will be able to find it again.