World Cup
Balotelli remains Italy’s top scorer in the World Cup final
The failure of the Italy national team to get a ticket to Qatar’s stadiums automatically means Mario Balotelli will remain the last player to score in a World Cup final until at least 2026.
He was not in the national team of Italy for almost 3.5 years during which his career was not at its best, but lately Mario Balotelli has reappeared, occupying both the media and fans in the neighboring country.
First for Mancini’s decision to trust him again and invite him to the pre-selection for the 2022 World Cup playoffs, and then for his decision to leave him out of the 33-man mission.
A decision that even stimulated a new round of talks after North Macedonia’s unimaginable accident, which was sent into the final stages of the World Cup for the second year in a row. Many estimated that Italy could score with Super Mario in the match of “Renzo Barbera” (had 30 finals) and are now preparing for the “final” in Dragao with Portugal.
That didn’t happen, however, and Balotelli continues to cast the Squadra Azura differently as he remains the last player to score for them in the final stages of the World Cup.
They drew 2-1 with England at the World Cup debut in Brazil, after which Italy suffered back-to-back defeats by Costa Rica and Uruguay without conceding a goal and were eliminated by KO, followed by back-to-back eliminations at the World Cup in Russia and Russia Qatar and to look for the player who will take over the baton from Balotelli.
But something like that will happen at best 12 years after his goal against the Three Lions…
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.