To Italy where the country is still dealing with the shock of their national team not competing in Russia after they failed to qualify for the first time since 1958. With four titles, Italy is tied with Germany for second among the most successful countries at the football showpiece with their last triumph coming in 2006. CGTN's Natalie Carney spoke to Azzurri fans in Rome, about how it feels to miss out on this tournament.

It's the night of the opening match between World Cup 2018 hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia. The Public House pub is in the heart of Rome, but is certainly not as busy as it was during the 2014 World cup.

JONATHAN ITALIAN FAN "Unfortunately, children lose out on a great experience, it's nice to be together in front of the TV, watching the game, feeling emotions together. But life is also made of this, you learn from disappointments and failures, so let's go on and I hope we will be there for the next world Cup."

ANDERA ITALIAN FAN "More than anything else is the fun and the joy that you can feel during the game and going out after the game. It's a day of celebration."

FLAVIO ITALIAN FAN "We are sorry because after many years Italy is not in the world cup, I have always lived with great enthusiasm the world cup since I was little."

FRANCESCO SAVERIO TORCIA LA REPUBBLICA NEWSPAPER SPORTS CHIEF EDITOR "The world cup is part of our lives. It is an event that is expected every 4 years, so there will be a generation of children who were too small 4 years ago and now will have to wait again."

Last fall, Italy soccer fans experienced what the most diehards deemed a sporting "apocalypse" when Italy lost out to Sweden in their own backyard at the San Siro stadium in Milan.

"Only in 1930 in Uruguay did we not participate and we only failed to qualify in 1958 in Sweden. There are 4 titles won and there are also 2 finals lost both with Brazil, in 1970 and 1994 so we are one of the most important countries in the history of the world cup."

The Netherlands, Chile and the USA, also failed to qualify this year, but Italy is the most titled country to miss out.

NATALIE CARNEY ROME "In the hierarchy of the World Cup's elite, Italy's Azzurri are soccer royalty - it's exclusion from this year's tournament marks the end of an era. Not only is it the first time they've failed to qualify in 60 years, but it'll also mean missing out on huge economic opportunities."

It is estimated that restaurants and bars alone are set to lose 70m euros in lost revenue. Italian television stations were prepared to pay 200m euros for the rights to broadcast the games. An average of 17.7 million viewers tuned into each game that Italy took part in during the World Cup in 2014. This year, that means millions in lost advertising.

"The year of the world cup is the richest year from a financial point of view and therefore the failure to classify involves a devaluation also of the brand and therefore there are no investments to make and sponsorships to be cashed."

But there is still good news for Italian football fans; while the men are missing out, Italy's female football team qualified for the first time in 20 years for the Women's World cup, kicking off in France next year. Natalie Carney, CGTN, Rome.