(REUTERS)

For the third consecutive tournament, four-time World Cup winners Italy will be on the outside looking in during World Cup competition.

In UEFA playoff action on Tuesday, host Bosnia Herzegovina defeated Italy in penalty kicks in the city of Zenica, knocking FIFA's 12th-ranked team out of consideration. Italy has not been part of the World Cup field since 2014.

Bosnia, which entered the match as the world's No. 71 side, earned its first World Cup entry since 2014 with the 1-1 (4-1) verdict.

Italy owned a 1-0 lead when Alessandro Bastoni was ⁠sent off with a red card in the 41st minute. Bosnia knotted the match on Haris Tabakovic's goal in the 79th minute.

Bosnia-Herzegovina joins Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland in Group B for the 48-team World ​Cup competition that ‌begins June 11 and concludes July 19.

Italian media and fans meanwhile reeled from the defeat, dubbing the loss a  "third apocalypse".

“For the first time in our history, Italian children will come of age without ever having seenItalytake part in a World Cup," said Wednesday's edition of the Gazzetta Dello Sport, a publication in Italy. The pink sports daily dedicated eight pages to "Italian football's ongoing nightmare", with the national team the first World Cup winner to miss a third consecutive finals.