The Azzurri, Italy’s beloved national football team — darlings of the international football (soccer) scene — failed to make it to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar this year. Images of bleeding-heart fans crying into their minestrone over this reality aren’t far off. It’s a jagged pill for a calcio-crazed nation to swallow, especially considering that the team had fallen short in their bid to advance to the Cup held in Russia four years ago.

Prior to Italy’s loss this year, coupled with the surprising setback in 2018, the Italian national team hadn’t missed a World Cup since 1958. One of the most successful soccer teams of all time, Italy won the World Cup championship fourfold — second only to Brazil in terms of titles. Italy’s last victory was against France in 2006.