Overnight, two more old Serie A teams finished

Italian football has really reached its most dangerous moment.

The Italian national team lost to Norway 0:3 when making their debut in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. It seems that the crushing defeat in the European Cup last year was not the end of their decline. Without earth-shaking changes, Italy will be a high probability event if it misses the World Cup for three consecutive times. The decline at the league level is also serious. On the surface, the Italian league's European score ranking is acceptable, but this is all earned by mid-level teams such as Lazio, Rome, Atlanta, and Fiorentina in the Europa League and the European Union. In the Champions League that represents the highest level, only Inter Milan is struggling to support the Serie A team.

What's even more terrifying is that the cornerstone of Italian football is collapsing, and more and more clubs are struggling and even going bankrupt. On June 8, Brescia and Spal, two veteran Serie A teams, failed to register for Serie C due to financial reasons, and are likely to participate in the amateur league next season.

Sparletti: Italy is in a "hard time"

Italian head coach Spaletti said that after losing to Norway 0:3 in the first game of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Italy is in a "hard time".

Alexander Thurott and Antonio Noosa scored a 2-0 lead for the home team in Oslo, before Arsenal midfielder Odegao assisted Manchester City striker Haaland to score the third goal, all of which happened before the end of the first half.

The Italian team failed to advance to the main tournament in the past two World Cups. After losing to Norway, they ranked fourth in the first-tier qualifiers, but due to their participation in the UEFA Nations League, they played two fewer games than the top-ranked teams.

Norway temporarily ranked first in the group with 9 points, Israel ranked second with 6 points, and Estonia ranked third with 3 points.

Sparetti told reporters: "I am the head of this team, and I choose the players, and I will continue to fight with them."

"We need to improve in some aspects, and we cannot give our opponents a lead by 'giving big gifts'."

Italian captain Donnarumma said he "has no explanation."

"Our fans should not see such a game," said the goalkeeper who just won the Champions League title for Paris Saint-Germain. "We need to reflect on it. It's too hard to accept."

Italy's next game is against Moldova on June 9, which is currently two losses in the group, ranking last.

Sparetti said in an interview with Sky Sports in Italy that this was a "hard time".

He added: "Worries always happen. After such performance, you obviously have to face your own problems and realize the existence of them. But you have to face them because there is no other possibility."

It is worth mentioning that Norway has not appeared on the stage of the World Championship for more than 20 years, and after appearing on the World Cup twice in 1994 and 1998, they have missed the World Cup for 6 consecutive times.

Even if we included the 1938 time, Norway only participated in three World Cups. Coincidentally, they only lost one game each time they participated in the World Cup, and the Italian team defeated them three times. This 3:0 victory can be regarded as a revenge that has been accumulated for nearly a hundred years.

For Italy, losing to its loser for many years is a strong signal of its own sliding into the abyss. After the number of places in the World Cup has been expanded again and again, Italy is getting further and further away from the World Cup.

114 years of history ended, Brescia failed to register for Serie C

On June 7, local time, news came out of Italian media that because club owner Massimo Cellino owed 3 million euros, the veteran Serie A team Brescia will have to participate in amateur football matches.

Brescia Football Club is disappearing, at least, it is not the kind we were familiar with before. The club owner, controversial Massimo Cellino, refused to repay the debt of 3 million euros, causing the club to be unable to register for League C.

This 114-year-old team will once again compete in the Amateur Football League. Other old clubs such as Naples, Florence and Palermo have all walked this path.

The problem has been around for a long time. In fact, it took a while before they were confirmed to be relegated from Serie B to Serie C. Due to failure to pay two payments, the Italian Football Association imposed a penalty of deducting four points on them, which led to their relegation. Sampdoria, another veteran team in the relegation zone, survived and got the opportunity to relegate play-offs.

"114 years of history have been trampled on, but Brescia is not him (Cellino). Brescia is us, it will never die," wrote team captain Dimitri Bisoli on Instagram. "Massimo Cellino deliberately ruined Brescia. He decided not to register the club, that's it."

A team that once had the best player in football history is declining, at least at competitive level. Roberto Baggio, Altoberi, Guardiola, Pirlo, Luca Tony, Haji... Dibiagio, Hamsik, Palacio, Balotelli, Dezelbi, Matri... These famous players have played at the Mario Rigamonti Stadium.

Brescia has played in Serie A for a total of 23 seasons, the last time in the 2019-20 season. The team achieved the best record in Serie A in 2000-01. The coach at that time was Carlo Mazoni, and the players included Baggio, Hubner, Bonella, Galli, Sernichek and others..

Spar failed to register, Inter Milan U23 may replace the Serie C League

Also on June 7, another club that has played in Serie A in recent years also announced that it had failed to register for Serie C, but the owner of the club said that Serie C was not bankrupt.

Sparr Club said in an official statement: "In the past four years, the club owners have invested €50 million in liquidity, of which €12 million were invested last season alone to try to restart Spal. However, despite all the efforts, the expected sports results were not achieved, and it was not proportional to our investments." The statement said that finding new funds and attracting external investors has become increasingly difficult, and a partner who intends to make major investments and enter the club's management has changed his mind, and some so-called fans have violently attacked Spal players during training. The statement stressed that the owner of the Spall Club has not gone bankrupt and the club has not filed for bankruptcy. Next, the Spall Club may consider registering in the lower league level.

Like Brescia, Spal's last game to Serie A was also in the 2019-20 season, but Spal's current situation is better than Brescia. Club owners are providing legal documents to prove that they have the ability to pay off their debts. If the debts can be paid off in time, they still have a glimmer of hope to register for Serie C. If the registration is not successful in the end, Inter Milan U23 will replace them in the 2025-26 season of the Serie C.