After failing to qualify for the last two World Cups, Italy now risks missing next year's European Championship, too.
As defending champion.
On coach Luciano Spalletti's debut, Italy was held to a 1-1 draw at North Macedonia in a qualifying match on Saturday.
While it was an improvement from last year's loss in Palermo to North Macedonia that eliminated the Azzurri from the World Cup qualifying playoffs, it was still far below expectations against a team ranked 68th by FIFA.
Spalletti hasn't had much time with his team since taking over at the start of the month after Roberto Mancini suddenly resigned and was then announced as Saudi Arabia's coach.
Italy has won only one of its three qualifiers -- and that was against last-place Malta.
Italy remained third in Group C. England leads with 13 points, Ukraine has nine and the Azzurri and North Macedonia have four points each. Malta trails with zero points.
The top two finishers in each group qualify and three more teams will advance from playoffs.
While Spalletti earned plaudits all over Europe for his attacking style when he coached Napoli to the Serie A title last season, there were only glimpses of that flair on a Skopje pitch that was in poor condition.
Ciro Immobile celebrated his first match as captain by putting Italy ahead with a header shortly after the break but Enis Bardhi equalized for the hosts with a free kick in the 81st.
"We could have done better with quality, as they were defending with five men, so we should have split them apart more easily," Spalletti said. "That was also inevitable with the state of the pitch, as it is not possible to pass with quality on that turf."
Ukraine ended England's perfect start to qualifying after Oleksandr Zinchenko's first-half goal helped secure a 1-1 draw in Wroclaw, Poland.
Zinchenko put Ukraine ahead with a side-footed finish in the 26th before Kyle Walker equalized with his first goal for England, on his 77th appearance, in the 41st.
Ukraine's fans celebrated as if it was a win after the final whistle, with the players applauding the supporters in return. The team is playing all its "home" games in Poland because of the war against Russia.
"An amazing result for us. England are one of the best teams in the world," Zinchenko said. "The atmosphere was unbelievable. It felt like we played at home. I really hope very soon we can play at home."
Yannick Carrasco scored a first-half goal as Belgium won 1-0 at Azerbaijan to move atop the group. Romelu Lukaku played 66 minutes but couldn't break a tie with Denmark's Rasmus Hojlund and Scotland's Scott McTominay atop the qualifying scoring chart. All three players have scored six goals.
Sweden routed Estonia 5-0.
Belgium and Austria have 10 points, Sweden has six points, and Estonia and Azerbaijan trail with one point each.
Switzerland remained atop the group but conceded an injury-time equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Kosovo in Pristina.
Kosovo striker Vedat Muriqi completed a brace four minutes into added time.
Remo Freuler opened the scoring for Switzerland, which also got an own goal from Kosovo defender Amir Rrahmani.
Romania and Israel drew 1-1 and tiny Andorra held visiting Belarus to a 0-0 draw.
Switzerland leads with 11 points, followed by Romania (9), Israel (8), Belarus (4), Kosovo (4) and Andorra (2).
A minute's silence was held before each match in memory of the victims of the earthquake in Morocco.
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A team of tornado experts are investigating a path of damage through Wellington County.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her U.S. selection loss when they observed Veterans Day together by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Across Canada, dignitaries marked Remembrance Day by laying wreaths at ceremonies, school children sang in the late fall chill and veterans recalled the horrors of battle.
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is naming longtime adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, to be the deputy chief of policy in his new administration.
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A government-funded report released to Â鶹´«Ã½ highlights 'systemic racism' against dozens of Black executives within the federal public service, including allegations of abuse, violence and harassment that, in some instances, led to suicide.
The federal government is urging both sides in the British Columbia port dispute to return to the table after mediated talks broke off on Saturday, the first of three scheduled days.
The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.
Israel’s new foreign minister said that there has been 'certain progress' in efforts to end the fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her U.S. selection loss when they observed Veterans Day together by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
A Spirit Airlines plane was hit by gunfire Monday over Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, according to diplomatic source in the country, resulting in what the airline described as “minor injuries†to one of its crew members.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is seeking to move up the start of his trial on corruption and bribery charges so he can focus on his campaign for reelection this spring.
A man accused of killing a person and staging it as a fatal bear attack in Tennessee was taken into custody in South Carolina over the weekend on murder charges, in what authorities described as a plot to steal the victim’s identity.
With armed conflict again on their continent, many European leaders marked the end 106 years ago of First World War with warnings that liberty, so often taken as self-evident, should be cherished and defended.
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Murray Sinclair’s family members say the late justice and senator has been laid to rest according to his wishes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced voters in Cloverdale—Langley City will pick their next member of Parliament on Dec. 16.
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An opponent of vaccines who urged violence against scientists, politicians and public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic was sentenced Monday.
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Across Canada, dignitaries marked Remembrance Day by laying wreaths at ceremonies, school children sang in the late fall chill and veterans recalled the horrors of battle.
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Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus was among approximately 120 people who gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil near the scene of a vicious attack against a 16-year-old in Cobalt.
Across Canada, dignitaries marked Remembrance Day by laying wreaths at ceremonies, school children sang in the late fall chill and veterans recalled the horrors of battle.
If Earth's astronomical observatories were to pick up a signal from outer space, it would need an all-hands-on-deck effort to decipher the extraterrestrial message. A father-daughter team of citizen scientists recently deciphered the message. Its meaning, however, remains a mystery.
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A team of tornado experts are investigating a path of damage through Wellington County.
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Environment Canada issued a weather alert for Barrie, Collingwood and surrounding areas, alerting residents about the wicked winds that are expected to pick up to 80 kilometres per hour in the afternoon hours.
After a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) worker took their own life while on shift at the Ambassador Bridge Saturday, Â鶹´«Ã½ Public Safety Analyst Chris Lewis highlighted the mental health burdens faced daily by law enforcement.
Representatives of the Windsor Veterans Memorial Services Committee, military representatives, wreath bearers, government officials, and members of the public will attend the Cenotaph at City Hall Square for the outdoor service.
Windsor Paralympic champion, Danielle Campo, has been crowned the number one Inspirational Speaker of the Year for 2024 at the Inspirational Speaking Finals.
A B.C. teen has a suspected case of H5N1 avian flu — the first known human to acquire the virus in Canada.
Environment Canada says heavy rain and winds could cause power outages on Vancouver Island as an "intense" storm system is set to hit the B.C. coast Sunday.
Six deer were struck by vehicles in six different locations in a six-hour period on B.C. highways on Saturday, according to the transportation ministry.
The emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, B.C., will be closed for 31 hours this weekend, the second such closure in a week and the third since the start of November.
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The Southern Alberta Recreation Association is officially announcing the Town of Taber as next year’s host for the Southern Alberta Summer Games.
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Police in Newfoundland say a man was electrocuted Saturday by a downed power wire about 10 kilometres north of St. John's, N.L.
On Thursday morning, Dave Penny officially ended a suggested hundred-day isolation period that followed his diagnosis and stem cell treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On Thursday night, Penny returned to a stage at a downtown St. John's bar, regaling a small crowd with songs and stories with a distinctive Newfoundland flair.
A Memorial University scientist says the mysterious white blobs washing up on Newfoundland beaches are actually gobs of plastic -- and they need to be cleaned up.
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