‘That goal killed us’

Germany’s Jamal Musiala (second from left) catches Italian players, including goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, unawares to score in their UEFA Nations League quarter-final second leg at Dortmund on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images

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 quarter-finals 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.

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"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.

Meanwhile, Defending champion Spain and France needed penalty shootouts to reach the Nations League semifinals, where they were joined by Germany and Portugal.

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