what a (horrific) end Italy would have had without his goal

Blessed be the goal of Matthias Zaccagnibecause without this, Italy would not have reached the round of 16 as the best third-placed team in the groups. Slovenia would have done so, having drawn against England and having finished with a better goal difference than Spalletti’s national team, in the event of a 1-0 defeat. With the goal by the Lazio player in the 98th minute and the 1-1 draw against Croatia (eliminated), Italy has collected four points and will face Switzerland, coached by Murat Yakin, next Saturday at 6 pm. Not going would have been a huge disappointment after missing out on the two World Cups in Russia and Qatar in the previous editions.

Why Italy would have gone out. Because at three points only Hungary would have done worse than the Azzurri (still at -1 in goal difference until the 98th minute), while Slovenia (who finished third in Group C only due to the weight of yellow cards) would have overtaken the Azzurri by virtue of a better calculation in the goals scored/conceded ratio (0), that is, two goals scored and two conceded for our rivals, and two goals scored and three conceded for the Azzurri in the event of a 1-0 defeat against Croatia.

The Netherlands (4 points, 0 goal difference) and Slovakia (4 points, 0 goal difference), Georgia (4 points, 0 goal difference) would also have found space in the repechage lot. Thanks to Calafiori, in short, and to Zaccagni, who only had to place it at the intersection to let us pass. And now the part of group in which Italy ended up is more than positivesince with the exception of Holland and England all are within reach, while Spain, Portugal, Germany and Belgium are on the other side.