Spalletti Announces He Will Leave Italy Job in Emotional Press Conference

Luciano Spalletti will no longer be Italy’s coach after tomorrow’s World Cup Qualifiers game against Moldova. He announced it himself during today’s press conference ahead of the match, highlighting that he was relieved of his duties by the Italian Football Association (FIGC) President Gabriele Gravina.

A few minutes later, Spalletti almost broke in tears and left the press conference room.

Spalletti’s position was at risk after Italy shockingly fell 0-3 to Norway on Friday night in their qualifiers opening game. The Azzurri managed to record only one shot on target during the game.

Spalletti announced that he was sacked as soon as the presser started: “President Gravina has communicated to me that I will be relieved of my duties as the Nazionale head coach after the game against Moldova. I am sorry, I would have preferred to stay and try to change things. I have a great relationship with Gravina, but I take note that I’m being sacked due to negative results.”

He went on to elaborate about his experience with the Azzurri: “I’m disappointed because I didn’t manage to get the best out of my players and express my football. I’m disappointed with myself.”

“I know that, with these results, I created some problems to the Italian footballing movement and I am sorry about that. I knew this was going to be a difficult challenge, but I was sure we would qualify to the World Cup.”

Spalletti then invited the press to talk about tomorrow’s game but, after a few more minutes, he stood up and, with tears in his eyes, left the conference room.

Luciano Spalletti became the head coach of Italy in September 2023 after Roberto Mancini’s abrupt exit. He led Italy for 23 games, and collected 11 wins. He was in charge at Euro 2024, which ended with the Azzurri‘s elimination in the Round of 16 after a dismal performance vs Switzerland.

Italy seemed to be making some progress and had an encouraging start in the Nations League. However, in the last four games, the Azzurri collected three losses and one draw, conceding 11 goals. Last Friday’s loss in Oslo, which will make Italy’s path towards the 2026 World Cup much harder, put the last nail in the former Napoli coach’s coffin.