How Italy's betting scandal is impacting national team as Euro chances take hit in loss to England

The Azzurri lost 3-1 at Wembley against England on Tuesday and may just find themselves on the outside looking in at another major tournament

It was a difficult week for Italian soccer and Luciano Spalletti's national team. The Azzurri won 4-0 against Malta on Saturday but then lost 3-1 to England in London on Tuesday, and Italy will now have to produce against North Macedonia and Ukraine next month to avoid the playoff's next year and qualify for Euros. 

Once again, Italy are in some trouble. Once more, Italian soccer has been affected by a scandal that this time could have a huge impact on the national team. 

A few hours before the game against England, it was announced that Juventus midfielder Nicolò Fagioli will be suspended for seven months after the Italian player admitted he personally placed bets on illegal platforms on soccer games. The 22-year-old reached an agreement with the Italian FA Prosecutor for the suspension. 

The news arrived few days after the investigation became public and after the police entered the gates of Italy's training ground last Thursday to question two players of the team, Nicolò Zaniolo and Sandro Tonali, who are the two others players that are part of the investigation. Both players left camp shortly after with their futures up in the air. The case originally stems from the Turin prosecutor's investigation into gambling through illegal online platforms. Investigators have scanned accesses, data and transactions and found out that Fagioli was placing bets on soccer games. 

Spalletti was forced to make some unexpected changes on the roster and called other players such as AS Roma's Stephan El Shaarawy and Bologna's Riccardo Orsolini. On top of that, Italy had to deal with some injuries to key players like Federico Chiesa, Mattia Zaccagni and Ciro Immobile. 

Injuries and another scandal definitely had consequences on the dressing room and the team tried to react on the pitch, but England at the moment are just too good and ahead in terms of their project. Italy managed to beat England in the summer 2021, when the Azzurri, under coach Roberto Mancini, won Euro 2020. Two years later, while England managed to improve and continue the same path, Italy had more struggles and also missed the qualification to the 2022 World Cup. 

Playing against this England side in this moment was probably the worst that Italy could probably face. However, Spalletti could finally see striker Gianluca Scamacca scoring in his first game as a starter and also Tottenham's left-back Destiny Udogie starting against England at Wembley. 

Italy don't have much time and will have only two games to qualify for the Euros next summer. Spalletti knows that and Italy need at least four points against North Macedonia and Ukraine. It's not impossible to imagine that Italy can make it, but looking at the recent years, this is the worst scenario that Italians fans could face.