A Bosnian ball boy showed off Donnarumma's "cheat sheet" that he secretly stole during the penalty shootout. Donnarumma lost his temper and tore up the Bosnian notes, leading to Italy's elimination from the 2026 World Cup.
7 Apr 2026 GMT+7 The nation's latest hero, 14-year-old Bosnian ball boy Afan Sizmic, appeared on a local TV show to reveal his "precious treasure"—a note with penalty kick information, or "cheat sheet," belonging to Italy's national goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Afan had secretly taken it during the 2026 World Cup playoff, a pivotal moment that shocked the world and led the Azzurri to an unexpected elimination.
The incident happened during the decisive penalty shootout after Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina ended regular time in a draw. Afan recounted on the TV show that he saw Donnarumma placing the note recording Bosnian players' penalty statistics beside a water bottle and towel near the goalpost.
"I saw him put it a bit out of reach. When everyone was tensely watching, I quickly ran over and grabbed it. I knew it was his secret weapon," Afan said.
Chaos erupted when Donnarumma returned to the goalpost to check the information but found his "cheat sheet" missing. Losing his temper, he stormed over to the Bosnian goalkeeper, grabbed the opponent's notes, and tore them up right in front of everyone as payback. The referee had to step in to stop the commotion.
In the end, without his notes, Donnarumma had to rely purely on instinct for saves, while Italian players missed their shots, resulting in Bosnia’s victory and Italy’s shocking third consecutive World Cup elimination.
Today, Afan has become a new hero among Bosnians. He revealed that the note contains detailed penalty information for every player and that he is keeping it safe. However, he announced on the show plans to auction this "historic cheat sheet" and donate all proceeds to charity.