The bite mark, and the dawn of the curse

When Giorgio Chiellini pulled down his jersey collar to show the referee his neck, the scene looked like a child complaining to a school teacher. This colossal Italian defender -- a man who, metaphorically, spent his entire career holding a knife to the throats of forwards -- was himself a silent victim that day. And the tooth marks of that predator were stamped on his shoulder.

The 2014 World Cup. The Brazilian city of Natal. Estadio das Dunas. The final group-stage match of Group D: Italy vs. Uruguay.

For both teams, the match was a battle for survival. A win meant moving on; a loss meant going home. Amidst this nerve-wracking, intense pressure, that unbelievable and bizarre incident occurred in the 78th minute.

Luis Suárez. One of the world's finest strikers. A man in whom beauty and brutality coexist simultaneously, he seemed to be a fusion of two opposing entities on the football pitch. That day, his inner brutal self suddenly awakened. In that moment of testing physical strength, shoulder-to-shoulder with Chiellini, Suárez suddenly leaned in and savagely bit into the Italian Wall.

The television cameras initially couldn’t fathom what had actually transpired there. Chiellini collapsed to the ground, his face contorted in agony. Then, he stood up and did that unforgettable deed. He pulled down his jersey to show the referee the teeth marks embedded in his shoulder. His face carried a language of shock and disbelief, as if saying, "Look, a living human being has bitten me!"

The referee looked. And did absolutely nothing.

This single decision -- or rather, this single inaction -- stunned the football world that day. No card emerged from the pocket, no punishment was meted out. The game moved on at its own pace. Uruguay won the match 1-0. And with a heart full of deep regrets, Italy exited the World Cup.

Suárez’s punishment did arrive later, and quite severely at that. A nine-match international ban and an order to stay away from football for four months. But by then, Italy's damage was already done. Chiellini, Pirlo, Buffon -- the legends of that generation -- had walked off the pitch.

If the story had ended there, it might have remained merely a bizarre incident in football history. But what followed transformed this tale into a tragic epic.

The 2018 World Cup. Italy is not there.

Eliminated after losing to Sweden in the World Cup qualifiers. For the first time in sixty years, the Azzurri were knocked out of the World Cup. The tournament took place on Russian soil without that blue jersey. Buffon wept. The dream of a generation crumbled into the dust.

The 2022 World Cup. Italy is missing once again.

This time, a defeat to North Macedonia. In the play-offs, at the very last minute. One of Italy's greatest-ever squads, the 2021 Euro Champions, could not touch Qatari soil. In football history, this defeat is hailed as one of the ultimate tragedies. It was unbelievable, yet it had to be believed.

Even after this, Italy tried to rise like a phoenix. A new coach, new plans, a new generation. Gennaro Gattuso, who was himself part of the 2006 World Cup-winning squad, took charge of the team. Moise Kean began scoring consistently. Stars like Alessandro Bastoni and Donnarumma stood tall as the backbone. It felt as though, this time, it might happen.

The final night of March. The city of Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The play-off final. In the 15th minute, Kean put Italy ahead with a magnificent curling shot. It felt like today would be the day -- today, the twelve-year curse would finally break.

But destiny had written a different script. In the 42nd minute, Bastoni saw a red card. Italy was reduced to ten men. For nearly the remaining hour, followed by the nerve-shredding pressure of extra time, and then the penalty shootout -- they fought the entire way down a man.

Donnarumma fought. He made saves. But Italy’s penalty takers couldn't deliver. Just one goal out of four penalties. Bosnia secured it 4-1. With Esmir Bajraktarević’s final kick, the stadium in Zenica erupted in joy.

The 2026 World Cup. Once more, Italy is not there.

What kind of silence engulfed the Italian dressing room at that moment is impossible to know. But one can guess.

Chiellini himself later spoke of that bite with a laugh. He said he had handled many tough tackles in his life, but no one ever trained him to handle a tooth injury. His sense of humor, his maturity—none of it could change the outcome of that night’s match.

History states that four-time world champions Italy are now a country absent from three consecutive World Cups. No world champion nation has ever held this record before. Italy is the first.
Twelve years. Three World Cups. Not in a single one.

The last time Italy played on a World Cup pitch in 2014, a man had pulled aside his jersey to reveal tooth marks. Those marks have faded from the body. But somehow, they have remained stamped upon Italy's destiny -- invisible, yet indelible.

Chiellini is now retired. Buffon stopped a long time ago. Pirlo is coaching. None of the generation that was on the pitch that night remain in the national team.

Yet, the curse remains.

Because in football, some moments cease to be just a game. Some moments become symbols, turning points in history. That 2014 bite, that tugging of the jersey, those disbelieving eyes -- the day all of it set a story in motion, the ending of that story has still not been written.

Perhaps it will be written. Perhaps one day Italy will return to the World Cup, and on that day, someone will remind everyone that this team watched three World Cups on television, from home.