In an interview, Croatian national team coach Dalic talked about the current situation of the Italian national team.

The Italian national team failed to qualify directly in the World Cup preliminaries and must participate in the World Cup play-offs. Dalic first said: "Italy's experience is very strange. They missed two World Cups in a row, but they won a European Cup during the period. Italy failed to advance directly from the World Cup qualifying group stage and now has to participate in the play-offs. This is definitely not easy."

Dalic continued: "I don't know why a country with tens of millions of people and a high level of football cannot advance directly from the World Cup preliminaries. I did not expect it, but I hope to see Italy in the World Cup."