Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso was emotional and apologetic after his side suffered a playoff penalty shootout loss in Bosnia on Tuesday, to miss out on their third successive World Cup, but he refused to talk about his future.

As Italian football fans worry that their national team might miss out on a third straight World Cup in Tuesday's play-off decider with Bosnia and Herzegovina, moves are afoot to take the Azzurri back to the top.

In an age of ruthless VAR certainty, we revisit the midday sun of Wembley -- where a linguistic barrier, a Soviet flag, and a six-centimetre margin birthed football’s most enduring riddle.

The London-based human rights organisation's report -- "Humanity Must Win" -- called on both FIFA and host countries the US, Canada and Mexico to take urgent action to protect fans, players and other communities.

Football has seen many legends, but the way a dog from South London became part of the game's greatest drama remains a truly unique story.

The Azzurri host the Northern Irish in Bergamo on Thursday trying to end a 12-year absence from the World Cup finals after failing to qualify for the last two editions in Russia and Qatar.

"The reality of the World Cups -- every World Cup FIFA has put on -- there's always been geopolitical issues. Always," he told the Business of Soccer conference in Atlanta.

A decision in a fraction of a second, a flawless reaction, was made at the very edge of human capability.

Iran were one of the first nations to qualify for the finals but their participation has been in doubt since the U.S.-Israeli conflict with the Islamic Republic broke out at the end of February.

With the spectre of failed 2018 and 2022 qualification campaigns looming over the squad, Gattuso knows his players must overcome the mental weakness that has plagued Italy's World Cup ambitions.

In that fleeting second, he became the Icarus of myth -- the man who dared to touch the sun with wings of wax.

No country has been more successful on the world stage than Brazil. From 1958 to 2002, the Selecao authored an epic of five world titles, with each chapter standing as a unique testament to footballing greatness.

Football is a cruel poet. It can reduce an entire epic to a single line.

YouTube has reached a new agreement with FIFA that will allow rights-holding broadcasters to stream parts of World Cup matches on the platform, in a move aimed at expanding the tournament’s reach among younger and more digitally engaged audiences.

In the early 1950s, across Europe’s green carpets, Hungary were not merely a football team. They were devoted practitioners of the art of football. The eleven men on the field seemed to move according to the sheet music of an invisible orchestra. The world knew them as the “Magic Magyars.” When the ball was at their feet, it felt as though a master poet was arranging his finest verses.

Those two simple pieces of paper marked the beginning of a new era in football. The remarkably simple invention proved to be a magical solution.

Few stories in football history are this dramatic, this human, this poetic.

With both well-known and lesser-known statistics, this feature takes a closer look at the fascinating world of World Cup hattricks. Let us explore some intriguing questions about these remarkable feats.

The Iraqis are due to face either Suriname or Bolivia on March 31 in the Mexican city of Monterrey for a place in the World Cup finals, but with Iraqi airspace closed until April 1, Arnold's squad is unable to gather or travel.

The Iraqis are scheduled to play the winners of an earlier tie between Bolivia and Suriname in Monterrey on March 31 for a spot at the World Cup finals but are concerned they might not be able to get everyone to Mexico.