MARIO BALOTELLI has claimed he could have helped Italy qualify for the World Cup after their shock qualification defeat.

The Azzurri were stunned by minnows North Macedonia in their play-off semi-final as they were beaten 1-0 in Palermo.

They have now not qualified for the last two finals and have not progressed beyond the group stage since they won the tournament in 2006.

And Balotelli, who has not played for the national team since 2018, feels there were chances in the game that he could have taken.

He told Sky Sports Italia: "I'm always missed when we lose. It's easy to say it now but before the match no one thought about me.

"I watched the match and there were were opportunities.

"In front of goal I'm pretty good and I'm not saying we would have won if I had been playing but there were opportunities to score."

Balotelli has been capped 36 times by Italy, scoring 14 goals in the process.

But he has not been selected to play for his country since Roberto Mancini picked him for some friendlies in the summer of 2018.

The former Manchester City boss did call him up for a three-day training camp in January of this year.

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But he was then left out of the crucial World Cup play-offs as Italy crashed out in embarrassing fashion.

At club level, Balotelli joined newly-promoted Turkish club Adana Demirspor last summer, where he has scored 12 goals in 27 appearances.

Over the last four years he has also had spells at Marseille, Brescia and Serie B side Monza.