European football champions Italy sensationally missed out on participating in the World Cup, and Stefan Kuntz's dream of Turkey with Turkey has also burst.

Italy surprisingly lost 0-1 (0-0) against the blatant outsiders North Macedonia in the playoff semi-finals in Palermo on Thursday and must therefore watch the finals again.

For North Macedonia it is now in the playoff final on Tuesday against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portuguese, who won 3-1 (2-0) against Turkey coached by Kuntz.

Austria, on the other hand, missed their first World Cup appearance since 1998.

Captain David Alaba's team lost 2-1 (0-1) against Wales in Cardiff.

The Welsh will have to wait until June for their opponents, however, when Ukraine are scheduled to play their semi-finals against Scotland.

FIFA postponed the game because of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

You can read more about this soon at FAZ.NET.