Estonia held on until the 58th minute but could not spoil Gennaro Gattuso’s debut as Italy’s national team manager, suffering a heavy 0-5 defeat in front of a full house at Atalanta’s Bergamo stadium.
The Estonian squad, which entered the campaign with one win and three losses, faced the giants of Italy – 2020 European champions and four-time World Cup winners. Jurgen Henn’s team lined up in their strongest possible lineup, led by captain and Werder Bremen goalkeeper Karl-Jacob Hein, who needed a standout performance to try to pull off an upset.
Italy started aggressively from the first minutes, threatening Hein’s goal repeatedly. However, the shots, though taken from dangerous positions, lacked precision and did not test the goalkeeper seriously. Estonia also produced a notable chance: after a corner, Paskotši just missed connecting with the ball, and who knows what might have happened had he managed to head it.
Karl Jacob Hein emerged as Estonia’s star in the first half, making crucial interventions and keeping the match goalless despite Italy’s dominance with it showing up on the stat sheet with shots being 17 to 0.
Italy finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute when Moise Kean scored from close range after a deflection from Larsen and a pass from Retegui. Kean came close to doubling the lead shortly after, hitting the post in the 59th minute.
The Italian onslaught continued with Mateo Retegui scoring in the 69th minute after combining with Raspadori. Two minutes later, Raspadori headed Politano’s cross into the net to make it 3-0. Retegui added his second goal in the 89th minute from a Cambiaso header, and Alessandro Bastoni sealed the 5-0 victory in stoppage time following another Raspadori assist.
Despite the heavy defeat, Estonia had moments of promise, especially in the first half which they can take as a positive from this match.
In World Cup qualifying, Estonia now has one win and four losses.
Estonia’s next fixture will be a farewell match for two Estonian legends at A. Le Coq Arena on September 9, marking the final appearances of Konstantin Vassiljev and Taijo Teniste against Andorra in a friendly.
Italy vs Estonia – 5:0 (0:0)
Goals: Kean 58′, Retegui 69′ 89′, Raspadori 71′, Bastoni 90+2′
ITA: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Dimarco (Cambiaso 67′), Politano (Orsolini 76′), Barella, Tonali (Locatelli 76′), Zaccagni (Raspadori 66′), Kean (Esposito 84′), Retegui
EST: Hein, Schjonning-Larsen, Paskotsi (Tamm 80′), Kuusk, Saliste, Palumets, Shein (Soomets 80′), Kristal (Ainsalu 61′), Kait, Sinjavski (Saarma 67′), Sappinen (Anier 80′)
World Cup 2026 qualifying Group I
| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | PTS |
| 1 | Norway | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 2 | Italy | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 3 | Israel | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | Estonia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | Moldova | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
