Gattuso: I’ll move far away from Italy if we don’t qualify for 2026 World Cup

Gennaro Gattuso has seen Italy’s improvements in the last two games against Estonia and Israel, but will only take credit if the Azzurri qualify for the World Cup: ‘Otherwise, I’ll move far away from Italy.’

Italy secured a play-off placement in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, beating Israel 3-0 in Udine.

Gattuso has won his opening four games as the Azzurri coach, seeing Italy score 16 times.

“I’ll take credit if I can reach the target; otherwise, I’ll move away from Italy. I’m already living quite far away, but I’d go even further away,” the Azzurri coach said at a press conference via TMW.

Gattuso had been appointed in June to replace Luciano Spalletti and made his debut last month, also against Estonia and Israel.

“Yesterday I said it was a dream to be here, and it’s true. Some people are more experienced than I, and this is why I got this call with great responsibility,” the Italy coach continued.

“I must thank the Federation, the President and Buffon. I didn’t think the team would score 16 times, but it’s their merit. I have very little. We work a lot, we don’t sleep much, but we do this because when we get the win we feel well.”