Apparently, the Italians were confident enough of qualification to sort their hotel. Fortunately for them, someone might want to buy their booking...
There was yet more embarrassment for Italy this week, after the Azzurri went down 1-0 on aggregate to Sweden in their World Cup play-off.
According to Danish outlet TV2, it turns out they'd already booked their hotel for the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Manager Giampiero Ventura was dismissed on Wednesday following his side's woefully lacklustre qualification campaign and, on top of finding a suitable replacement, the Italian Football Federation must now contemplate what to do with their Russian booking.
Step forward, Denmark.
Having recently qualified themselves by thrashing the Republic of Ireland 5-1 in their second play-off leg courtesy of Christian Eriksen's terrific hat-trick, De Rød-Hvide are now also looking for a place to stay next summer.
CEO of the DBU, Claus Bretton-Meyer, said that although they may have chosen differently, the Italian hotel represents an interesting prospect.
"Now, there is a big difference between the preferences of the Danes and Italians," said Bretton-Meyer. "But it's clear that we can end up in a situation where we must get what we can get."
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With many of the ideal locations snapped up by other countries who automatically qualified, it seems there could be a deal here for the Danes.
Reimbursement may be little consolation to Italy – but every little helps towards paying off Ventura's contract which still had two years left to run... right?
