Rino Gattuso left his job as Italy head coach by mutual consent Friday after the four-time world champions became the first former world champion to fail to qualify for the tournament three times in succession after a shoot-out defeat to Bosnia in their play-off final Tuesday.
"With a heavy heart, having failed to achieve the goal we had set ourselves, I consider my time on the national team bench to be over," said a statement released by the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC).
The contract that bound the coach to the Italian national team bench has been mutually terminated, the FIGC said.
The exit follows the resignations of FIGC President Gabriele Gravina and Italy delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon, like Gattuso a 2006 World Cup winning hero.
Gattuso last June replaced Luciano Spalletti, who was sacked after Italy's 3-0 defeat in Norway in their opening 2026 World Cup qualifier.
The federation turned to Gattuso, a member of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning team, after getting knocked back by their first choice, Claudio Ranieri, who decided to stay on at Roma in an executive position.
The choice of Gattuso was something of a surprise.
The 47-year-old had had stints in charge of many teams, including AC Milan, Napoli and Valencia, but his career as a coach had not been hugely successful so far.
He won the 2019-20 Italian Cup with Napoli.
On Tuesday night the former midfield fighter struggled to hold back the tears as he apologized to the nation after his side lost a penalty shoot-out against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica in the World Cup playoffs final, meaning the Azzurri will miss the tournament for the third consecutive time.
But Gattuso, a key part of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning team, also stood up for his team, who played most of the match in 10 after defender Alessandro Bastoni got a straight red card shortly before half-time for a last-man foul.
"I apologise, but it's unjust," he told Rai television.
"These guys didn't deserve a sucker punch like this, given their determination and commitment.
"We struggled - we were down to 10 men.
"That's football, but I'm proud of my guys.
"The guys gave everything and I'm proud of them," he added in an interview with Sky.
"It's a big blow on a personal level, it'll take time".
The four-time world champions also failed to qualify for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, coming second in the group, as they did this time behind Erling Haaland's Norway, and get ejected in the subsequent playoffs by Sweden and North Macedonia respectively.
On Tuesday Italy had taken the lead thanks to a superb strike by forward Moise Kean in the 15th minute.
They came under intense pressure from the hosts after Bastoni was sent off, although they also had three good chances to go 2-0 up before Haris Tabakovic poked in an equalizer for Bosnia and took the game to extra time.
Esmir Bajraktarevic converted his penalty to secure a 4-1 win for Bosnia in the shoot-out after substitutes Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante failed to convert theirs for Italy.
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