Italy/FIGC: a €6.6m deficit for a 2026 budget highly dependent on World Cup play-offs

"Much will depend on our qualification for the World Cup, which, as you can imagine, would have a very positive impact on our budget," said Gabriele Gravina, president of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), following the Federal Council meeting at which the Federation’s provisional 2026 budget was unanimously approved, with a projected deficit of €6.6m, in Rome (ITA) on 26/01/2026.

The Azzurri will take part in the European World Cup play-offs (Path A) at the end of March 2026, with the aim of avoiding a third consecutive absence from the tournament after missing the World Cup in 2018 (Russia) and 2022 (Qatar). Italy will first host Northern Ireland in Bergamo (Lombardy, ITA) on Thursday 26/03/2026, before travelling, in the event of a win, to face the winner of Wales - Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday 31/03/2026.

In this context, the €6.6m deficit projected for the FIGC’s 2026 financial year is the result of "extremely prudent assumptions, notably the impossibility at this stage of factoring in the significant revenues that would be guaranteed by the national team’s…