Italy’s failure to reach the World Cup for the third straight time could lead to a complete overhaul of the system and head coach Gennaro Gattuso’s future also looks imperiled after the heartbreaking play-off defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia triumphed on penalties in the European qualifying playoff final as the Azzurri’s unwanted streak of not appearing at a men’s World Cup since 2014 continued. Gattuso and technical delegate Gianluigi Buffon only took over from the sacked Luciano Spalletti in June 2025, when Italy were already badly trailing Norway in their qualification group, but couldn’t turn the ship around and steer it to the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

After the Bosnia loss, Buffon explained that he and Gattuso would remain in charge for the short term but with no guarantees beyond that. “This is a delicate moment, and we need to take the necessary time to make the right evaluations,” Buffon said in his post-match press conference. “Clearly, the sporting season ends in June, so until then it is only right and fair for us to be available to the Federation, the president, and all those who had faith in me. We’ll be here until June, then we’ll see for the rest how the whole thing is tackled.”

There have been calls for sweeping changes across the board, with Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina coming under fire for the “disgrace of missing out on the World Cup. “It is an unacceptable disgrace,” fumed the Lega party, a member of Giorgia Meloni’s ruling coalition, on social media. “Italian football needs a complete overhaul, starting with the resignation of Gabriele Gravina.” Italy’s sport minister Andrea Abodi also called for a radical overhaul, saying “it’s clear that Italian football needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that starts with changes at the top of the FIGC.”

But who could Italy turn to if they do get rid of their head coach? Here are some of the candidates who could take over should Gattuso get the boot:

Max Allegri

The fans’ choice, at least according to Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, who claim that the AC Milan boss would be the dream hire for supporters. Having initially knocked about in the Italian lower leagues, Max Allegri got his Serie A shot with Cagliari in 2008 and was hired by Milan two years later.

He won Serie A in his first season at the San Siro before leaving the club in January 2014 and becoming Juventus boss that summer. Across an incredible five-year spell in Turin, he led Juve to remarkable success – becoming the first manager in Italian football history to lead a team to four consecutive domestic doubles, winning Serie A and the Coppa Italia in each of his first four campaigns, before adding a fifth league crown the following year.

Having left in 2019, he returned to the Old Lady for a second spell in 2021, although found less success, only winning a Coppa Italia in 2024, after which he angrily attacked the referees, threatened a journalist and waved off sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli during the post-match celebrations before being sacked two days later. In May 2025 he became AC Milan manager for a second time, so would have to be coaxed out of that role to take over the national team.

The 58-year-old has historically been praised for his tactical intelligence and man-management skills, although he came in for criticism for an “old-fashioned” style of play during his second spell at Juve, which was thought to have stifled several of the club’s talented young players.

Roberto Mancini

While Corriere dello Sport have backed Allegri as the fans’ choice, they also suggest that 61-year-old Roberto Mancini is pushing for a return to the job that saw him lead the Azzurri to their most recent tournament glory at Euro 2020. Rival sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport also claims it will be Mancini vs Antonio Conte for the role.

His first tenure with the national team, which began in 2018, has to go down as a huge success – beating hosts England on penalties in the Euro 2020 final to deliver just a second European Championship in Italian history and going on a world-record unbeaten streak of 37 matches that was only ended by Spain in the autumn of 2021.

However, he failed to secure qualification for the 2022 World Cup after a stunning playoff defeat to North Macedonia and resigned from the job in August 2023. He has since had a short, painful spell in charge of the Saudi Arabian national team and took over Qatari side Al-Sadd in November.

Prior to his foray into international management, Mancini was best known to English fans for his time at Man City, where he led them to a first Premier League title in 2012 with the legendary “AGUEEERRROO” goal sealing victory on the final day, and he also found success at the likes of Lazio and Inter Milan.

Antonio Conte

Another veteran Italian manager who has held the national team job before, Antonio Conte is in the running once again, with La Gazzetta dello Sport particularly pushing his candidacy as a legitimate option.

Conte succeeded Cesare Prandelli following the ignominious group-stage exit at the 2014 World Cup (although just reaching the group stage of football’s global showpiece has been a pipe dream in the years since…) and comfortably qualified for Euro 2016, where they reached the quarter-finals before a narrow penalty shootout defeat to Germany. He left after the tournament, citing a desire to “return to the cut and thrust of club football”.

He has found huge success in the club game either side of the Azzurri spell – winning three straight Serie A titles with Juventus prior to taking the job, then a Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea and Serie A crowns with Inter Milan and Napoli since. In fact, his only trophyless reign came at Tottenham which, given what has happened at the club since, probably can’t be considered too damaging.

Napoli face an uphill struggle to retain their league title this year, although look well set to qualify for the Champions League again at least, so will the 56-year-old fancy a return to the Italy national team a decade on from his last spell?

Stefano Pioli

The three men above appear to be the early front-runners, or at least the biggest names on the shortlist, but there could be some other contenders, starting with Stefano Pioli. The 60-year-old is currently available, having been sacked by Fiorentina in November 2025 after a dismal second spell in charge of the club.

In addition to La Viola, Pioli has managed the likes of both Milan clubs, Lazio, Bologna and Parma during his career, winning a Scudetto with AC Milan in 2022, so his experience at top clubs could be a boon for the FIGC, plus the lack of need to buy him out of a current club contract. However, his last two roles, with Fiorentina and Saudi club Al Nassr have not gone well.

Fabio Cannavaro

“There is a risk of throwing away our football culture, which for a long time the entire world envied,” said Fabio Cannavaro in an interview with The Mirror earlier this month – and that was before Italy’s failure to qualify for this summer’s World Cup.

The former centre-back is at least ensuring there will be some Italian representation at the World Cup, as he manages debutants Uzbekistan at the tournament, while his legendary playing career speaks for itself. Captain of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning side, winner of the Ballon D’or that same year, 136 caps for his country and trophies aplenty for Parma and Real Madrid.

Throwing an Italian football legend into the role, is tempting but his managerial record is patchy at best. The 52-year-old did win the Chinese Super League with Guangzhou Evergrande in 2019 and also briefly managed the China national team but jobs with Serie B strugglers Benevento, Serie A strugglers Udinese and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb all ended quickly and unsuccessfully. Getting any sort of result with Uzbekistan this summer would be a huge achievement but surely the Italy job would be too big?

Thiago Motta

Another man with a more storied playing career than managerial one, Thiago Motta has at least managed one of Italy’s biggest clubs, in the form of Juventus, although his nine-month spell in Turin will hardly be fondly remembered by fans – eventually ending in March 2025 following a calamitous set of results, including a 4-0 loss to Atalanta and a 3-0 defeat to Fiorentina.

The 43-year-old hasn’t had a job in the year since, so is available, and an impressive spell at Bologna from 2022 to 2024 to earn the Juve job in the first place also counts in his favour. Could he recapture the magic that saw him dubbed as Italy’s brightest young managerial prospect at Bologna and would he be trusted with such a high-profile, tricky job at this stage of his career?