Italy were involved in one of the biggest World Cup upsets in history on Thursday evening.The European champions were expected to brush aside North Macedonia in their play-off semi-final encounter, but were instead on the receiving end of a shock 1-0 defeat in Palmero.Aleksandar Trajkovski - who ironically used to play for Palermo - scored the all-important goal in the 92nd-minute of play and it was a worldie from the winger, who plays for Saudi Arabian side Al-Fayha.His strike means Italy have failed to qualify for two World Cups in a row, the first time that has happened in their footballing history.The Azzurri's unexpected elimination at the hands of North Macedonia will also thrust Chelsea midfielder Jorginho back into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.And no, that's not due to his performance in the match itself - which was pretty solid over all.It's because of the fact that Jorginho missed a penalty in both of Italy's draws against Switzerland in the group stage.Had the former Napoli man found the back of the net either home or away, Roberto Mancini's side would have taken top spot.

Video: Jorginho's penalty misses vs Switzerland

The second of the two misses was the worst, as it came in stoppage-time. In front of a packed Stadio Olimpico, Jorginho ditched his trademark stuttered run up and opted to go for power, only to see the ball fly over the crossbar.

That miss prevented Italy from qualifying for the World Cup automatically on the night and the team were then held to a 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland in their final match, which sealed their play-off fate.

After the defeat to North Macedonia, Jorginho admitted that his gaffes from 12 yards against Switzerland will "haunt me for the rest of my life".

“It is difficult to explain what happened,” Jorginho told RAI Sport while visibly emotional, per Football Italia.

“It hurts so much. I’ll be honest, I am still incredulous. I don’t think we lacked creativity, as we always dominated matches and created so many chances. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish them off.

“We played good football, we won the European Championship last summer, but unfortunately in the last few games we made small errors and were unable to recover from them. They made the difference.”

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When asked about the aforementioned errors against the Swiss, Jorginho replied: “It hurts when I think about it, because I do still think about it and it will haunt me for the rest of my life. Stepping up there twice and not being able to help your team and your country is something that I will carry with me forever, and it weighs on me.

“People say we need to lift our heads and carry on, but it’s tough.”

Football can be a cruel, cruel game at times. But at least Jorginho has a Champions League quarter-final and an FA Cup semi-final to look forward to when he returns to Chelsea after the international break.

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Sure, they're not quite the same as securing a place at the World Cup for your country, but at least they're something positive to hold on to for a heartbroken footballer.