Italy are left on the brink of disaster

ITALY are in danger of missing out on the World Cup for the first time since 1958 after defeat in the first leg of their play-off with Sweden.

Swedish icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic was in Stockholm, watching from the stands with his Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.

Substitute Jakob Johansson had been on the pitch for four minutes when he scored the winner, beating Gianluigi Buffon via a huge deflection off Daniele De Rossi.

There was more bad news for the Italians when Paris Saint- Germain midfielder Marco Verratti was shown a yellow card, meaning he will miss the second leg at the San Siro in Milan on Monday. Italy boss Giampiero Ventura said: ‘We need to overturn it all in Milan. San Siro has to take us by the hand.’

lSENEGAL qualified for the World Cup finals by beating South Africa 2-0 with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane setting up both goals. The match was a replay after South Africa had beaten Senegal 2-1 a year ago, only for FIFA to find the Ghanaian referee guilty of match-fixing.