Overview
- Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the 2026 World Cup after a 1-1 draw and a 4-1 win on penalties in Zenica, handing Italy a third straight World Cup absence.
- The 14-year-old ball boy, identified as Afan Cizmic (also reported as Avan), told Bosnian TV he took the sheet with Bosnia’s penalty tendencies from next to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s towel and hid it.
- Without his scouting notes, Donnarumma did not save a kick in the shootout, while Bosnia keeper Nikola Vasilj said Donnarumma tried to tear up Vasilj’s own list and that Bosnia had a photocopy ready.
- Cizmic showed the paper on television and said he plans to auction it and donate the proceeds to charity.
- In the fallout from Italy’s exit, coach Gennaro Gattuso and federation president Gabriele Gravina resigned, and no sporting sanctions tied to the ball-boy incident have been reported.