Embarrassing goal creates tougher road for Italy to avoid missing out on 3rd straight World Cup

ROME (AP) — If Italy fails to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time, an embarrassing goal might be remembered as contributing to another epic failure.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and the entire Azzurri defense were protesting to the referee when Joshua Kimmich played a short corner to Jamal Musiala, who scored into an empty net to give Germany a 2-0 lead over Italy in the Nations League quarterfinals in Dortmund.

Germany went ahead 3-0 by halftime before Italy fought back for a 3-3 draw but the home team still advanced 5-4 on aggregate Sunday.

“The second goal killed us,” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said. “It was an easy thing to avoid. Having said that, these are my players and I will always back them, even if some criticism is appropriate.”

The result means Italy enters a five-team World Cup qualifying group featuring Erling Haaland’s Norway instead of a four-team group in which the highest-ranked nation is Slovakia.

Winning the group is the only way to ensure direct qualification to next year’s tournament in North America. The second-placed team goes into the playoffs — the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.

A four-time World Cup champion, the only other time Italy didn’t qualify was for the 1958 edition.

Norway opened qualifying in splendid form with a 5-0 win at Moldova on Saturday. Also in Italy’s group, Israel beat Estonia 2-1 in its opener.

Norway will be back in action on Tuesday against Israel, which will play its “home” match in Debrecen, Hungary.

Italy won’t start qualifying until June, opening at Norway and also finishing group play against the squad led by Manchester City’s scoring juggernaut Haaland.

“We can’t fail,” said Italy defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

Spalletti said he ridiculed his team at halftime.

“And they had the wits to put together a solid second half,” the coach said.

Still, Italy appeared confused for long stretches of both legs. The Azzurri conceded two headed goals in a 2-1 loss in the first leg and Spalletti acknowledged that he got his starting lineup wrong for the return match.

Now, there’s not much more room for mistakes.

Donnarumma has also made numerous glaring errors with Paris Saint-Germain.

In a Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona last season, Donnarumma failed to come for a corner and central defender Andreas Christensen headed in the winner.

Donnarumma’s hesitancy was repeated in the semifinal return leg against Borussia Dortmund when defender Mats Hummels rose unchallenged to head in Julian Brandt’s corner from the left — a carbon copy of Christensen’s goal.

Donnarumma has also been blamed for mistakes in this season’s Champions League — although he also saved two penalties in a shootout win over Liverpool this month.

AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire in Paris contributed to this report.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Italy's Giacomo Raspadori reacts after the Nations League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Germany and Italy at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Germany's Jamal Musiala, right, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal with Tim Kleindienst during the Nations League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Germany and Italy at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Italy's Alessandro Bastoni reacts after Germany's Jamal Musiala, left, scored his side's second goal during the Nations League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Germany and Italy at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Italy's head coach Luciano Spalletti gestures during the Nations League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Germany and Italy at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Italy's Sandro Tonali, second from right, reacts after Germany's Jamal Musiala, centre, scored his side's second goal during the Nations League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Germany and Italy at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma reacts after the Nations League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Germany and Italy at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Sarr scored 24 points and had seven rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 119-114 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night that snapped a five-game skid.

Justin Champagnie added 18 points while shooting 4 for 6 from 3-point range and had 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who won for the third time in their last 10 games.

Quentin Grimes scored 22 points for the 76ers, who dropped their sixth straight. Guerschon Yabusele added 21 points and eight rebounds.

Champagnie scored 16 points in the first half for the Wizards, who led 67-58 at halftime.

Washington went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to extend its lead to 89-71 with 2:48 left in the period. Tristan Vukcevic scored a team-high 11 second-half points as the Wizards were outscored by four points over the final two quarters, but still held on to win.

Wizards: Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, has now scored at least 19 points in six of his last eight games.

76ers: One encouraging sign for Philadelphia was the continued production from Grimes, who has scored at least 22 points in nine straight games. His 22-point performance Wednesday was actually his lowest total since March 6, when he had six points in a 123-105 loss at Boston.

Champagnie, Sarr and Jordan Poole sank 3-pointers during a 10-0 run in the opening minutes that gave Washington a 10-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Wizards led 45-29 by the end of the first quarter. It was the most points allowed by the 76ers in the opening quarter this season.

The Wizards outscored the 76ers by 12 points on 3-pointers, making 18 compared to 14 for the 76ers. Nine of those for Washington came in the first quarter, the most for the Wizards in any quarter this season.

Wizards: Begin a five-game homestand Thursday against Indiana.

76ers: Host the Miami Heat on Saturday.

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Washington Wizards' Jordan Poole, right, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Justin Edwards during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Will Smith reacts to the crowd before an NBA basketball game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Wizards' Bub Carrington, right, dunks past Philadelphia 76ers' Jeff Dowtin Jr. during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers' Ricky Council IV, center, goes up for a shot between Washington Wizards' Jaylen Martin, right, and Tristan Vukcevic during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Wizards' Tristan Vukcevic dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Wizards' Colby Jones, top, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Guerschon Yabusele during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Wizards' Jaylen Martin, right, reacts after dunking the ball against Philadelphia 76ers' Justin Edwards during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Wizards' Alex Sarr (20) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Jeff Dowtin Jr. (11) and Guerschon Yabusele (28) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Wizards' Alex Sarr (20) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Adem Bona (30) and Ricky Council IV (14) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)