Italy might be making an appearance at the World Cup after all

Italy's footballers will not be in Russia next summer for the World Cup.

Having lost the first leg of their play-off qualifier to Sweden in Stockholm a couple of weeks back, the Azzurri couldn't reverse the 1-0 deficit in the second leg in Milan's San Siro - the game finishing 0-0. Clearly, this is quite a big deal for Italy, the four-time world champions, who have been present at every World Cup since 1958. Not everyone, however, is accepting the fact that they won't be making an appearance at next year's tournament... As highlighted by The Mirror, the Italian press have raised hopes that their country could feature in the competition following reports from Peru. The South American nation booked their spot at next summer's finals with a play-off victory over New Zealand earlier this month, but government interference with the country's football association has now given some reason to believe that they may not be taking part in the tournament after all. As reported by Libero, Congresswoman Paloma Noceda wants the Institute of Sport to control the football association. With Fifa making it clear that it is against state involvement in football, the report suggests that the Peruvian team could be excluded from the World Cup as a result. If - and it's a very big 'if' - this were to happen, Fifa would then be at liberty to decide which team would replace them in Russia, with tournament rules stipulating that rankings do not need to be taken into consideration. Latching on to this, Tuttosport has suggested that Italy's record in past tournaments make them the most likely candidate to step in for Peru, should Fifa decide to expel them. It's a long shot, but who knows? Perhaps Gianluigi Buffon hasn't played his last game for Italy after all...