Gianluca Mancini: "Watching the World Cup makes me depressed"

Gianluca Mancini, defender for AS Roma and the Italian national team, admitted that he barely watches the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. According to the player, Italy's potential absence from the tournament once again has affected him deeply.

Derbyderbyderby.it According to the publication, Mancini stated that watching World Cup matches evokes strong negative emotions in him. Consequently, the player limits himself to watching goal highlights rather than full matches.

"I don't watch the World Cup matches because I immediately get depressed. I only watch the highlights. I really want to play there," the Italian defender said.

Mancini's words reflect the general gloom within the Italian football community, as the four-time world champions, the 'Squadra Azzurra', are once again unable to participate on football's biggest stage.

The Italian national team faced Bosnia and Herzegovina in a decisive World Cup 2026 qualifying play-off. The intense and dramatic match went to a penalty shootout, where the opponents were more precise and secured the ticket to the World Cup.

Thus, Italy has missed the World Cup for the third consecutive time. Previously, the team failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

This result is a heavy blow for a country with such a rich football history, a strong league, and millions of fans. Gianluca Mancini did not hide his dream of participating in the tournament with the national team in the future instead of watching from the sidelines.