It had to be Bastoni: Fans react after Italy disaster and derby debacle

Bastoni, who was on a first-half booking in the derby, dived under the challenge of Pierre Kalulu, which resulted in his opponent being incorrectly sent off for a second bookable offence. Had the reverse decision been taken, Bastoni himself should have been shown a yellow card for simulation, which would have been his second caution of the game. However, it was Bastoni’s passionate celebration of the decision to send Kalulu off that angered fans across Italy, not just in Turin.

Since then, Bastoni has been met by a hostile reception in a variety of grounds across Italy, and there were genuine calls from large portions of the Italy fan base for him to be dropped from Gennaro Gattuso’s squad for the World Cup play-off campaign that took place over the last week. In the end, Bastoni kept his place in the squad and lined up in the middle of Gattuso’s back three for both the semi-final victory over Northern Ireland and the play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday. Bastoni has since been met by further criticism after his first-half red card in Tuesday night’s play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina .

Gianluigi Donnarumma took a poor goal kick, which was headed straight back into the Italy half, and with Amar Memic running through, Bastoni, the furthest Italy defender back, lunged in from behind and was promptly shown a straight red card. The Azzurri were 1-0 up at the time, and had looked like they were going to see the half out with a narrow advantage until the red card was brandished in the 42nd minute. ZENICA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – MARCH 31: The referee Clèment Turpin shows the red card during the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy at Stadion Bilino Polje on March 31, 2026 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images) Italy held on until the 79th minute before conceding, and did well to see off the pressure during extra-time, but two early misses in the penalty shootout from Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante sent the Azzurri packing for another World Cup cycle. How have Italy fans responded to Bastoni’s red card? To little surprise, the responses to Bastoni’s red card in Italy’s play-off final have not been particularly positive.