Mason Mount refuses to go to Italy over World Cup failure and reveals amazing message he sent to Jorginho

MASON MOUNT has refused to give ‘stock’ to Chelsea team-mate Jorginho after Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Italy suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat by North Macedonia on Thursday, missing out on the Path C play-off final against Portugal.

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The defeat also means Italy have missed out on participating in back-to-back World Cups, having also eliminated Russia in 2018.

And to make matters worse, the last time the Azzurri played a World Cup knockout game was in 2006 when they won it.

Unable to change Italy’s fortunes, Chelsea midfielder Jorginho was heartbroken after full-time.

Mount, who will almost certainly be part of Gareth Southgate’s 23-man England squad in Qatar, says it’s hard for him to see a team-mate upset.

The Englishman said: “No, I’m not going to joke with him or talk about what happened to Italy.

“It’s hard for me to see a player I’ve played with for the past three years go through something like this.

“You know how much hard work it takes to get into this position – so it’s so disappointing to come up short.

“I actually sent him a little message and said, ‘Cheer up, you’ve had a great season and hopefully we can continue this season to win some more things together.’

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“I always mention that Jorgy is the joker in the group. But when it comes to big games against us, there’s nothing but respect between us all.

“When you’re at that level and you’re playing in the final, football is at stake and there’s this passion that goes into the game.

“Your country’s hunger for victory means so much – you would never joke about it afterwards.

“It’s about respect. If you look at how far both teams (England and Italy) had to come to get that chance in the final, that was a massive sum.”

Mount knows heartbreak on the international stage, having lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy last summer.

But the loss hasn’t sated the Three Lions’ hunger to win tournaments.

The Blues midfielder added: “We will always have this desire and hunger to prove something and to win.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve won anything, but as a group we know that if we keep pushing and believing, we can achieve something. We have the players for that.

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“Everything is prepared and we know that we can achieve great things – as we showed last summer.

“We didn’t quite make it, but now that hunger to take that extra step means the flame burns even stronger.

“To achieve something big and make the country proud is every single one of our goals.”