Gianluigi Buffon called time on his international career as soon as the dust had settled on Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup.
The 39-year-old Juventus goalkeeper, who made his 175th appearance for Italy, kept a clean sheet against Sweden but his compatriots failed to score the two goals needed to overturn Sweden’s 1-0 advantage from the first leg of the European play-off.
Buffon had already decided to hang up his gloves after next summer’s World Cup Finals in Russia but has been forced to bring that forward after Italy failed to qualify for the finals for the first time since 1958.
🎙 | #Buffon: ""We have pride, strength and we're stubborn. We know how to get back up again as we've always done. I'm leaving an Italy side that will know how to speak for itself. Hugs to everyone, especially those I've shared this wonderful journey with."
— Italy (@azzurri) November 13, 2017