The President of the Italian Football Federation, Gabriele Gravina, announced that Luciano Spalletti will continue in his position as coach of the Italian national team until the 2026 World Cup after bidding farewell to Euro 2024.
The Azzurri suffered a surprise defeat from Switzerland in the round of 16 with two clean goals, which stripped them of the Euro title and made them leave the competition early, despite what seemed like an easy path to reaching the final.
Expectations were towards Spalletti’s departure, especially since Italy’s performance in 4 Euro matches was quite modest, but Gravina confirmed his great confidence in the former Napoli coach and his continued position until the next World Cup.
Gravina justified the decision to keep Spalletti by saying, “He has been coaching for only 9 or 10 matches and is an essential element in the project. He must have our trust, and he already has it, and he must continue because in 60 days we will have a new challenge before us.”
He also added, “We believe that it is unreasonable to solve the Italian national team’s problems by abandoning Spalletti and his project that extends for several years. You cannot dismiss the coach after only 8 or 9 months.”
It is noteworthy that Spalletti succeeded Roberto Mancini in leading Italy since last September, where he played 14 matches, winning 7 of them, drawing 4, and was defeated only 3 times.
Next September, Italy’s journey will begin in the European Nations League, after which the World Cup qualifiers will begin, which the Azzurri missed in the last two editions.
