Carlo Ancelotti has claimed Italy’s recent World Cup collapses come from a decline in elite defenders and intensity. The Azzurri lost on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina in last month’s play-offs, completing a run of three straight failures to qualify for FIFA’s showpiece despite being four-time world champions.

Italy are now the first former World Cup winners to miss three consecutive editions, after also failing to reach Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. Before this sequence, the national team had been absent from only two of the first 20 tournaments, declining to enter in 1930 and falling short in qualifying in 1958.

Asked to explain that decline, Ancelotti highlighted two main problems for Italian football. “The fundamental difference is the pace, Ancelotti said in an interview with Il Giornale. Not just the physical running, but the mental pace, the intensity, which is not an empty word and cannot be applied only in certain phases of the match. Italian football has lost exactly that.”

Ancelotti stressed that issues at the back are central to Italy’s struggles. “Either we recover defenders, or rather the defensive mentality that has brought us club and national team success, or we will continue to suffer.” The comments echoed long-standing concerns that modern Italian teams defend less aggressively than past generations.

The former AC Milan and Real Madrid coach argued that tactical obsession has damaged traditional strengths. “It has also lost solidity. We already lack talent in other areas of the pitch, but the excessive focus on tactics has distorted our characteristics, the ones on which we have always built our history.”

Ancelotti also underlined that scoring is only one side of elite football. “Football is not only about scoring more goals than your opponent, but also about conceding fewer. That’s not a trivial statement.” For Ancelotti, losing defensive steel has directly fed into Italy’s repeated failures on the biggest international stage.

The coach linked national problems to Serie A’s reduced status among Europe’s top five leagues. No Italian side reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League last season. Ancelotti believes this reflects a wider talent drain and weaker domestic competition compared with England, Spain, Germany and France.

He argued that reduced investment has affected the calibre of players arriving in Italy. “The great foreign players no longer come to Italy. Abroad, with substantial TV rights and powerful investors, there is a more attractive market, he said.” That shift, Ancelotti suggested, limits the standard of opposition and teammates for local players.

For Ancelotti, that change has harmed player development. “So in Serie A, there are no longer internationally outstanding players likeFalcao, [Diego] Maradona, [Michel] Platini, [Ruud] Krol, [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and all the others from a distant era. Who do young Italian players learn from?” The question highlighted concern about role models for emerging talents.

While Italy watch another World Cup from afar, Ancelotti will be present in North America as Brazil coach, chasing a record sixth title for the Seleção. Back home, Italy reacted to the latest failure by dismissing head coach Gennaro Gattuso, with Antonio Conte strongly linked with a return after leading the Azzurri between 2014 and 2016.