Italy will miss out on the World Cup for the second successive tournament after the Euro 2020 winners were stunned by a stoppage-time winner from North Macedonia in Thursday's playoff semifinal in Palermo.
With Italy frustrated for 90 minutes by a heroic North Macedonia defensive performance, Aleksandar Trajkovski, a former Palermo player, struck the only goal of the game in the second minute of added time, inflicting Italy's first defeat in 60 home World Cup qualifiers.
The victory means North Macedonia, ranked 60 places below Italy in the FIFA rankings, will now take on Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo in the playoff final on Tuesday with a place in Qatar on the line.