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Ancelotti’s fingerprints and the “What if…” question. They whip the Azuris.
On a late night in March 2026, in the central Bosnian city of Zenica, Gianluigi Donnarumma stood on the pitch, staring off into space. Italy lost 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina and crashed out of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, making the four-time world champions the first former World Cup winners to miss three consecutive World Cups.
At that crucial moment, the name of Gennaro Gattuso was not heard among the Italian fans. The circulating name was a direct accusation against the Italian Football Federation. A man currently in charge of one of the most important teams in the history of the game, thousands of miles away on a salary of €10 million a year, is called Carlo Ancelotti.
Smooth driving… Don Carlo the savior
Carlo Ancelotti was born in Rego, Reggio Emilia in 1959. He was a player who mastered the art of organization in the center of the pitch with perfect composure. Then he became a coach who mastered the same art outside the lines.
Ancelotti is the only coach who has won five Champions League titles. But the number is not enough to paint the full picture. He is also the only manager to win titles in five major leagues. He was called “Don Carlo” and “Anchi” and in Italy he is known as “The Eyebrow” because of that raised eyebrow that says more than any word in the dressing room.
Ancelotti does not belong to the school of shouting and complicated plans. His style is based on respect, listening and calmness.
In his book, Quiet Leadership, published in 2016, he claimed that he “never yelled at anyone to get respect.” The authors of the book noted that he is not very interested in record numbers, because he believes that his only mission is to “make the president happy”. But behind this apparent calm is a mind that works non-stop, always under his leadership, to pull the ancient teams out of their crises and restore their luster.
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham said of him that he “gives you confidence and trust”… This confidence is not fake, but rather a reputation built on an undisputed record.
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A career unlike any other. a trainer who speaks the language of the stars
At Real Madrid alone, Ancelotti won the Champions League (3), the Club World Cup/Continental Cup (3), the European Super Cup (3), the Spanish League (2), the Copa del Rey (2) and the Spanish Super Cup (2). By the time he left Madrid in May 2025, he had become the most decorated player in the club’s history, overtaking legend Miguel Munoz, who won 14 championships.
At Milan, he led the Rossoneri to Champions League triumphs against Juventus in 2003 and Liverpool in 2007 to avenge the famous Istanbul battle two years earlier.
His mark was not lost on Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and also Chelsea, where he led them back to the English Premier League title after a 5-year absence, confirming that he is an exceptional model in modern football;
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Italy…a spiral of failure
To understand the gravity of what has happened to Italian football, we have to consider the scale of the disaster that befell the Azzurri. In 2018, Italy missed out on the World Cup in Russia after losing to Sweden in the playoffs. In 2022, he was absent from Qatar after the shock against North Macedonia. Then came Euro 2024 to add a new wound, an early exit against Switzerland in the round of 16, which observers described as the worst performance in the team’s history, as it showed no desire to fight back or a clear plan. Spalletti was sacked, replaced by Gattuso, and tragedy repeated itself.
Italy overcame smaller teams in qualifying but failed to beat Norway, losing 3-0 in Oslo and then 4-1 at the San Siro.
And in the play-off final against Bosnia, the blow came – going out on penalties. “We can’t believe what happened,” defender Leonardo Spinazzola said after the game. “It’s sad for everyone, for us, for our families and for all the kids who have never seen Italy at the World Cup.”
Italy has hosted a World Cup qualifier for at least 16 years, the last of which was the final in 2006.
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Has Italy made an offer to train the Azzurri?
Here is the essence of the story. Ancelotti has not been far from Italy and its atmosphere since his beginnings. He participated as a player in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, and in the 1994 final he was the assistant of Arrigo Saki. The blue shirt has always been a part of his identity.
In May 2025, at a conference in Rio de Janeiro introducing him as Brazil coach, Ancelotti openly admitted that he had previously received offers to coach the Italian national team, but that he was committed to his work with clubs.
Then he added a sentence that prevented him from going into more painful details. “Because Italy has a really great coach, Spalletti.”
But timing is everything. In the spring of 2025, when his contract with “Real” was about to end, the real opportunity appeared. Ancelotti was out of the club world for the first time and Italy was desperate for a manager. But everything went differently. The Brazilian Confederation announced in May 2025 that Ancelotti would become the Seleção’s first-ever foreign coach, and he officially began his mission on May 26. So he completely closed the door, or from another perspective, opened a big window of regret.
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The lesson that unions don’t learn
After the failure of 2018, the president of the federation, Carlo Tavecchio, resigned. But his successor, Gabriele Gravina, did not resign after 2022 and continued. After Spalletti’s sacking after Euro 2024, Gattuso arrived, an impromptu choice that many wondered about on its basis, and the biggest question loomed over the chaotic scene.
The Italian federation has historically been known for appointing big names into the system who understand the pressures of former champions and the rituals of the Calcio.
Ancelotti is not one of these people in the narrow sense. He is Italian by blood, international by mind. What he has built at Madrid, Milan, Paris, Chelsea and Bayern is a philosophy that transcends ego and traditional tactics, something that the Italian national team especially needs.
Ancelotti manages his players with a true partnership, at all levels, so in an environment where the crisis of collective spirit was more severe than the crisis of tactics, he would be the necessary balm.
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Brazil is his destination… and the doors are closed
In April 2026, a week after the Zenica debacle, ESPN Brazil reported that Ancelotti was set to extend his contract with Brazil until 2030, closing any possibility of him returning as Italy manager any time soon. His salary at the Seleção is around €10 million a year, topping the list of the highest-paid club and national team coaches.
Italy are searching for “Beyond Gattuso” today and are, as always, affected by the revolving door dilemma that has dogged them for years as it revolves around a handful of names that don’t change, now led by Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri, while the man who made the difference is planning a 2022 World Cup with the dancing Neymar and Neymar.
Mirror of truth. What if…
The question that history sometimes asks is not “What happened?” Rather, “What if…”
If the Italian federation in 2023, when Mancini resigned and left for Riyadh, had chosen more boldly to send its negotiators to those who would make changes wherever they went, would Italy repeat this disastrous absence? Of course, there is no definitive answer, as football denies any certainty, but Ancelotti, who activated the legend of Real Madrid and made Bellingham, Vinicius and Kroos play in a harmony that cannot be explained on paper alone;
Zinedine Zidane said about him earlier. “I asked him what the difference is between winning as a player and winning as a coach, and he said: “You will feel it yourself when your time comes. He told me that winning as a coach is much more difficult and beautiful.” Zidane himself became the author of consecutive hat-tricks in the Champions League from the coach’s chair.
In an interview with Corriere del Ticino on the night of the Bosnian disaster.Ancelotti, as always, tried to motivate his country “I wish Gennaro Gattuso the best of luck and I look forward to seeing him at the World Cup. He will be present 100% or if we are optimistic, 95%.
He continued: “It is certain that Italy will be in a relatively easy group because Switzerland is their only strong team.
Ancelotti’s confidence has not resonated with the Azzurri players, while the distance between him and his chances of reforming the existing situation has reached as far as Roma and Rio de Janeiro.
