April 4 (Reuters) – Canada Soccer cheekily courted Italy’s crestfallen supporters on Saturday, urging them to swap their Azzurri blue strips for maple leaf red after the four-times champions suffered another World Cup failure.
“Dear Italian soccer fans, Don’t wait four more years. Swap your jersey for Canada,” the sports governing body posted on X on Friday, directing fans to gather outside Cafe Diplomatico a popular restaurant in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood.
The light-hearted appeal followed Italy’s third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup after a playoff defeat by Bosnia on Tuesday, a setback that led to the resignations of coach Gennaro Gattuso and federation president Gabriele Gravina.
Canada, who will co-host the World Cup alongside Mexico and the United States, seized the moment to call for fans to support their country instead.
Local media reported hundreds of supporters queued for the Italy-for-Canada jersey exchange, though the offer proved more symbolic than transactional. Canada Soccer handed out 2026 shirts and posters to fans — and did so without collecting a single Italian jersey in return.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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