The reigning European champions met East Germany and Wales in qualifying . The qualification went smoothly, the decisive game for the group victory took place on November 12, 1969 in Rome against the GDR and could be won 3-0.
The Italians could not convince in the preliminary round. In the first game, the Swedes were defeated 1-0 by an early goal from Domenghini. The other two games against Uruguay and World Cup newcomer Israel each ended in a goalless draw, but Italy managed to secure first place in the group after Uruguay's defeat by Sweden.
Italy met hosts Mexico in the quarter-finals. The Mexicans got off to a better start and took the lead after a quarter of an hour. Only a few minutes later it could have been 2-0 for the hosts, but Borja only hit the crossbar. The then heavily criticized Italians found their way into the game and equalized in the 26th minute when the Mexican captain steered a shot from Boninsegna into his own goal. Squadra Azurra were the dominant team in the second half, and thanks to goals from Riva and substitute Rivera, the Italians won 4-1 and advanced to the semi-finals.
The semi-finals between Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany went down in history as the game of the century , but this game began quite unspectacularly: the Italians took the lead after seven minutes and defended it until stoppage time in the second half, when, of all people, Karl- Heinz Schnellinger managed to equalize. Gerd Müller's opening goal in extra time was equal to Burgnich a few minutes later, before Riva restored the Italian lead shortly before half-time. The Germans equalized again in the second half, but Rivera almost scored the goal in return to make it 4-3. With this victory, Italy was in a World Cup final for the first time in 32 years.
In the final, Italy could only keep up with the Brazilians in the first half, in the second half, still weakened from the semi-final against Germany, they collapsed and had to accept three goals. Despite the defeat, second place was the greatest success since winning the title at the 1938 World Cup in France .