‘Tough for me, personally’ – Chelsea star Jorginho admits he struggled to watch World Cup after Italy failed to qualify, but admits Argentina’s showpiece victory over France was ‘so, so good’

Jorginho has admitted to talkSPORT that he found it 'tough' to watch the World Cup, after his missed penalty meant Italy failed to qualify.

The Chelsea midfielder was forced to stay at home after the European champions fell short in their attempts to be one of the 32 teams competing in Qatar, becoming one of the highest-profile nations to miss out on the competition in recent years.

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Now 31 years of age, Jorginho faces an uphill task to play in another World Cup, with the midfielder set to be 34 when the 2026 World Cup rolls around in North America.

The tournament would have particularly painful to watch, knowing that his missed spot kicks cost his nation their chance of being there in Qatar.

At the time, Jorginho admitted he will be forever haunted by his two penalty misses in their draw against Switzerland which saw the Swiss finish top of their qualification group.

Italy then faced North Macedonia in a play-off match, but ended up losing 1-0 after extra-time in a huge shock result.

While unable to watch the early matches in the competition, Jorginho did praise the quality on show in the final rounds of the tournament, before describing Argentina vs France in the World Cup final as 'so, so good'.

Speaking to Jim White, Jorginho said: "At the beginning I didn’t see much because it was a bit tough for me, personally.

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“After that I just watched a few games in which my friends were playing, and I was cheering for them, but I didn’t know what time the game was or who was playing. I didn’t want to know much.

“Towards the end, the Jorginho who loves football came back and I wanted to watch the final games and the final itself was just unbelievable. It was so, so good.

“Those who enjoy football enjoy the thing, we just need to say thank you to them.”

With Italy missing out on the World Cup, focus now turns to Euro 2024, a tournament that Jorginho sees as a chance for redemption for the team as they look to defend their European crown.

Asked about the Euros, he said: “That has to be the target, hasn’t it?

“When you go down, it’s about how you try to go back up again and definitely we’re going to work hard to come strong for the Euros.”