Italian national soccer team / world championships

Italy
Repubblica Italiana

World Cup record goalscorer:	Roberto Baggio , Paolo Rossi and Christian Vieri (9 each)
World Cup record players:	Paolo Maldini (23)
Rank :	3
Organizer:	1934, 1990
Balance sheet
83 World Cup games 45 wins 21 draws 17 defeats 128: 77 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Italy 7: 1 USA Rome ( ITA ); May 27, 1934
Biggest World Cup victory Italy 7: 1 USA Rome ( ITA ); May 27, 1934
Biggest World Cup defeats Italy 1: 4 Switzerland Basel ( SUI ); June 23, 1954 Italy 1: 4 Brazil Mexico City ( MEX ); June 21, 1970
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	18 ( first : 1934 )
Best results	World champion in 1934 , 1938 , 1982 , 2006
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(Status: after the 2018 World Cup )

The article contains a detailed description of the Italian national soccer team at soccer world championships . Italy has taken part in world championships 18 times and has won the title four times, most recently in Germany in 2006.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated
1934	Italy	final	Czechoslovakia	World Champion	Vittorio Pozzo	1st world title
1938	France	final	Hungary	World Champion	Vittorio Pozzo	1. Title defense
1950	Brazil	Preliminary round	Sweden , Paraguay	07th	Ferruccio Novo	1. Elimination of a reigning world champion in the preliminary round
1954	Switzerland	Preliminary round	England , Switzerland , Belgium	10.	Lajos Czeizler	Out in the playoff against Switzerland
1958	Sweden	not qualified				In the qualification of Northern Ireland failed
1962	Chile	Preliminary round	Germany , Switzerland , Chile	09.	Paolo Mazza	Battle of Santiago
1966	England	Preliminary round	North Korea , Soviet Union , Chile	09.	Edmondo Fabbri	First loss against an Asian team
1970	Mexico	final	Brazil	Vice world champion	Ferruccio Valcareggi	Century game
1974	Germany	Preliminary round	Poland , Argentina , Haiti	10.	Ferruccio Valcareggi
1978	Argentina	3rd place match	Brazil	Fourth	Enzo Bearzot
1982	Spain	final	Germany	World Champion	Enzo Bearzot	Italy set the record for Brazil with their 3rd World Cup title, a Paolo Rossi top scorer
1986	Mexico	Round of 16	France	12.	Enzo Bearzot
1990	Italy	3rd place match	England	Third	Azeglio Vicini	Semi-final defeat on penalties against Argentina Germany sets the record for Brazil and Italy with its third World Cup title, a Salvatore Schillaci top scorer
1994	United States	final	Brazil	Vice world champion	Arrigo Sacchi	Defeat in the first penalty shoot-out in a World Cup final Brazil is again sole record champion
1998	France	Quarter finals	France	05.	Cesare Maldini	Out on penalties
2002	South Korea / Japan	Round of 16	South Korea	15th	Giovanni Trapattoni	Out in extra time through Golden Goal
2006	Germany	final	France	World Champion	Marcello Lippi	First victory in a penalty shootout at a World Cup headbutt Zidane against Materazzi
2010	South Africa	Preliminary round	Paraguay , Slovakia , New Zealand	26th	Marcello Lippi
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	England , Costa Rica , Uruguay	22nd	Cesare Prandelli
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification , Italy finished second in a group with Spain , Albania , Israel , Macedonia and Liechtenstein and could not prevail against Sweden in the playoff games of the group runners-up.

Final line-ups in 1934

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Participation waiver: 1 × (5%; 1930)
• Not qualified: 2 × (10%; 1958 and 2018)
• Athletic qualification (including participation as defending champion): 17 × (81% or 85% of the attempts)
• Participated without qualification (through automatic qualification as host): 1 × (5%; 1990)
  • Preliminary round: 7 times (33%; 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1974, 2010 and 2014)
  • Round of 16: 2 × (10%; 1986, 2002)
  • Quarter-finals: 1 × (5%; 1998)
  • Third: 1 × (5%; 1990)
  • Fourth: 1 × (5%; 1978)
  • Final: 6 × (29%; 1934, 1938, 1970, 1982, 1994 and 2006)
    • Vice World Champion: 2 × (10%; 1970 and 1994)
    • World Champion: 4 × (19%; 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)

Most frequent last opponent: Brazil and France (each 3 ×, but only won once on penalties)

World Cup tournaments

1930 in Uruguay

Italy did not take part in the first World Cup.

Giampiero Combi (left) and František Plánička (right) before the 1934 final

1934 in Italy

At the first World Cup in Europe, Italy was able to use the home advantage, but had to qualify itself beforehand by defeating Greece 4-0 at home and being persuaded by paying large sums of money to forego the second leg. But the performance of the referees also contributed to the fact that the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was able to celebrate the world title. At the start, the USA team was dealt 7-1, which had only qualified for the final three days beforehand through an additional qualifying game against Mexico. To survive the quarter-finals against Spain, two games were needed: After a 1-1 draw after extra time, a replay had to be decided a day later, which the Italians won 1-0 with a controversial goal. Two days later, the Swedish referee Ivan Eklind ensured that Italy also beat Austria 1-0. In the final against Czechoslovakia , Luis Monti was also involved, a player who had already been in the final four years earlier as an Argentinian and again Eklind preferred the Italians, who ultimately won 2-1 after 120 minutes.

1938 in France

Final line-ups in 1938 (Italy played in some games but in black jerseys, the color of the fascists)

Italy was automatically qualified as defending champion and was able to win the world title again after winning the Olympic Games in 1936 . In the final, Hungary was defeated 4-2, after Norway had been defeated after extra time, hosts France and Brazil (in which striker Leônidas were spared for the final) in the previous rounds . Vittorio Pozzo was the coach in all three tournaments and to this day he is the only coach who has been able to become world champions twice with his team.

1950 in Brazil

Italy was once again automatically qualified as defending champions, even if the last World Cup was twelve years ago due to the war. A year before the World Cup, however, the AC Turin team , by far the strongest team in Italy at the time, which also made up a large part of the national team, was killed in the Superga plane crash . A new team therefore had to be set up for the World Cup and Italy traveled to Brazil with a relatively inexperienced team, in which no player had played more than 12 international matches. For the first time, the defending champion failed - also due to the mode according to which only the group winners reached the final round - in the preliminary round. After a 3-2 draw against Sweden , a 2-0 win against Paraguay was not enough to win the group.

1954 in Switzerland

For the World Cup in the neighboring country , Italy qualified in a Europe / Africa group with two victories against Egypt . In Switzerland, England and Italy were seeded in a group with Belgium and the hosts and did not have to play against each other. Italy competed with a relatively inexperienced team and was coached by the Hungarian Lajos Czeizler . Three players only made their second international match in the first game. Only captain Giampiero Boniperti had already played more than 20 international matches. Italy then lost their first game against Switzerland , which in turn then lost to England. After Italy won against Belgium, the Italians had the better goal difference but just like the Swiss 2-2 points and since goal differences were not taken into account, they had to compete in a playoff for second place, in which the coach spared Italian Boniperti for the quarter-finals . But the Swiss were able to win this, too, whereby the Italians failed because of the Swiss bar invented by Karl Rappan , which the Italians later perfected into the catenaccio . Italy was eliminated for the second time in a row in the preliminary round, which should not be repeated until 2010/2014.

1958 in Sweden

For the first and only time until 2018, Italy could not qualify because the team failed in qualifying against Northern Ireland . Alcides Ghiggia , who shot Uruguay against Brazil to win the World Cup in 1950, was sent off in the 1: 2 game in Northern Ireland . His teammate Juan Schiaffino from Maracanaço , who had scored the 1-1 draw against Brazil, was also in the Italian team against Northern Ireland. For him it was the last international match, Ghiggia made another one. The London fog was also indirectly to blame for the elimination, as it prevented the referee scheduled for the qualifying game from arriving in Belfast on December 4, 1957 . The game was then declared a friendly because it was directed by a Northern Irish referee and rescheduled for January 15, 1958. With the 2-2 in the friendly match Italy would have qualified.

1962 in Chile

Battle of Santiago - Giorgio Ferrini is led by policemen from the field.

To qualify for the third World Cup in South America, Italy only needed two victories against Israel . Italy reached the playoff against the winner of the Middle East elimination Israel without a fight because Romania withdrew from the World Cup qualification. In Chile, the game against Germany was the first meeting of two ex-world champions at a World Cup, but neither managed to score. Since Italy then lost to the hosts in the Battle of Santiago and could only win against Switzerland , Italy failed again in the preliminary round.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in the "motherland of football" Italy had by games against Scotland, Poland and Finland qualified . Since the Milanese clubs Inter and AC had won the European Cup in 1963, 1964 and 1965 , Italy was considered one of the World Cup favorites, especially since the newcomer North Korea was a supposedly weak opponent in the preliminary round. But the Italians, who had already lost the group game against the Soviet Union with 0: 1 and for whom a draw would have been enough to advance, also lost this game with 0: 1 and were eliminated again in the preliminary round. The successful revenge against Chile for the Battle of Santiago in the first game only had statistical value.

1970 in Mexico

For the first World Cup in Central America to Italy was undefeated through games against the GDR and Wales qualify . Two years earlier, Italy had used their home advantage and become European champions . In Mexico , Italy won the group with a single goal against Sweden . The other two games against Israel and Uruguay ended goalless. No other team has succeeded in this to date. In the quarter-finals against hosts Mexico , more goals were scored for the first time and a 4-1 lead to the semi-final against Germany , which was the match of the century and Italy won 4: 3 after extra time. Even through the rigors of this game, Italy had no chance of winning the final against Brazil and lost 4-1.

1974 in Germany

René Houseman (right) makes it 1-0 for Argentina . Tarcisio Burgnich (left) cannot prevent it.

For the first World Cup in Germany to Italy had four wins and two draws against Turkey, Switzerland and Luxembourg qualified and was - also thanks to the expected support from many Italian guest workers - one of the favorites, especially with novice Haiti and the State amateurs from Poland in the preliminary round were supposedly easy opponents. In the first round game, Haiti was the opponent. The Italians failed to score in the first half, instead Emmanuel Sanon ended the longest series without conceding the Italians with the 1-0 right after the restart at the second half: Italy had not conceded a goal in 12 games before, goalkeeper Dino Zoff has been since then September 20, 1972 in 1143 international minutes without conceding a goal. Only then could Italy score three goals and win 3-1. The second game against Argentina ended 1: 1, but another draw against Olympic champion Poland would have been enough to move into the first-ever second final round. The Poles, who were five years younger on average, celebrated modern football and defeated Italy 2-1, which meant that Italy was knocked out again in the preliminary round, as Argentina, which had also lost to Poland, scored one more goal against Haiti than Italy.

1978 in Argentina

For the fourth World Cup in South America , Italy qualified in a group with England , Finland and Luxembourg by only three more goals than the English, after both won their home games against each other 2-0.

In Argentina , Italy first played in a group with the hosts as well as France and Hungary , both of which were able to qualify for the first time since 1966. Italy reached the second round with three wins and met European opponents there. After the duel with defending champion Germany ended goalless, Austria was defeated 1-0 and after the 1: 2 defeat against vice world champions Netherlands , thanks to the Germans 2: 3 against Austria, the small final against Brazil was reached. This lost Italy 1: 2 and was fourth for the first time.

1982 in Spain

The Italian players Dino Zoff (left) and Franco Causio (2nd from left) and coach Enzo Bearzot (right) together with President Sandro Pertini on the return flight after winning the World Cup

Final line-ups in 1982

The European qualification for the World Cup on the Iberian peninsula was first mainly played in groups of five from which the top two teams qualified for the World Cup. Italy finished second behind Yugoslavia and ahead of Denmark , Greece and Luxembourg , but scored only twelve goals in eight games.

In the group stage, Italy had to play in a supposedly easy group against Poland , newcomers Cameroon and Peru . With three draws and 2-2 goals, Italy could only qualify for the second round with one more goal than group runner-up. Cameroon, which also drew three times, had to return home unbeaten. In the group of three with the two South American teams Argentina and Brazil, Italy was therefore considered an outsider, but thanks to Paolo Rossi they won both games and met Poland again in the semi-finals, who only managed 0-0 in the first group game. Again it was Rossi who secured the victory with two goals and so it came to the final against Germany. With his sixth tournament goal, which made him the top scorer in front of the German Karl-Heinz Rummenigge , Rossi initiated the 3-1 victory, bringing Italy level with Brazil in terms of the number of titles. In addition, Rossi was also awarded the Golden Ball for best player.

1986 in Mexico

As the defending champions, Italy automatically qualified for the second World Cup in Mexico and met Bulgaria in the opening game . With a 1-1 draw against the Bulgarians, another 1-1 against Argentina and a narrow 3-2 win against South Korea , Italy qualified as second in the group for the knockout round that has now been reintroduced. In this, the team met European champions France , which was conducted by director Michel Platini , who plays at Juventus Turin . This was able to initiate the defending champion's end in the 15th minute with the 1-0 for the Equipe Tricolore. In the end it was 2-0 for the European champions. With the World Cup, the tenure of Enzo Bearzot , who had been on the bench in 104 international matches, ended more often than any of his predecessors and successors.

1990 in Italy

Italy did not have to qualify for the next World Cup either, only to prevail in the application with 11: 5 votes against competitors from the Soviet Union , which was the second time Italy played host. The preliminary round against Czechoslovakia , Austria and the USA was survived without conceding a goal and the Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga also remained without conceding a goal in the round of 16 and the quarter-finals , so that against Uruguay and the first-time qualified Irish, they made it to the semi-finals against defending champions Argentina . This game was not lost either, but it was not won either, and the Argentines were more experienced in the penalty shoot-out, as they had already survived the penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals. So the hosts were left with the small final against the Englishmen , who also failed on penalties , and won 2-1. After all, Salvatore Schillaci was the top scorer with six goals and received the Golden Ball as the best player .

1994 in the USA

After the collapse of the Eastern bloc, the number of UEFA members had increased enormously, so that the qualification was now carried out in groups of five to seven participants and, like four years earlier, the top two reached the finals. Italy was able to leave Switzerland , which was able to qualify again for the first time since 1966, as well as Portugal , Scotland , Malta and Estonia , which had re-qualified for the first time since 1938 , and only lost the game in Switzerland.

In the United States, Italy played in a group with Mexico , Ireland and Norway , which was back for the first time since 1938. Since all four teams each won and lost a game as well as played once and all had an even goal difference, the number of goals scored and the direct comparison were decisive for the placement. Italy, who lost 1-0 to Ireland, finished third behind Ireland, but qualified as one of the top four thirds in the group for the round of 16. There Italy met the Nigerians who had qualified for the first time . The African champions led 1-0 up to the 89th minute and Italy only played with ten players after being sent off against Gianfranco Zola in the 76th minute. Then Roberto Baggio scored the equalizer and the game went into overtime. In this, Baggio then secured the quarter-finals with a penalty goal. There was Spain the enemy and again it was Baggio by the lead to 2: 1 to secure the semi-finals. Italy surprisingly met Bulgaria , who had knocked out defending champions Germany in the quarter-finals, and again it was Baggio who secured a place in the final against Brazil with two goals in a 2-1 win . Both had won the world title three times by then and the winner would become the sole record world champion. Neither team managed to score in 120 minutes of play, so for the first time the penalty shoot-out had to decide the world title. Here it was Baggio, of all people, who missed the final decisive penalty, making Brazil world champions for the fourth time and Italy runners-up for the second time.

1998 in France

For the second World Cup in the neighboring country to Italy could not directly qualify because, unlike four years earlier, not all runners qualify directly, but only the best runners. Italy as the second-best group runner-up had to compete in a relegation. Italy prevailed with a 1-1 win in Russia and a 1-0 win at home against the Russians. Before that, they were only runner-up in the group behind England and ahead of Poland , Georgia and Moldova . It was the first ever games against the latter two.

In France, Chile , Austria and Cameroon were initially the opponents and Italy was able to advance to the second round as group winners. Here Norway was the opponent and was defeated 1-0. In the quarter-finals, hosts France were the opponents and after neither team scored a goal in 120 minutes, the penalty shoot-out was decisive again. Roberto Baggio was able to score this time , but not two teammates, so the hosts won the penalty shoot-out 4-3.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

For the first World Cup in Asia , Italy easily qualified as group winners against Romania , Georgia, Hungary and Lithuania and did not lose a game. In Japan, Italy qualified for the round of 16 in second place after beating Ecuador , losing to Croatia and drawing against Mexico . There the team in South Korea met their co-hosts South Korea and had to admit defeat 1: 2 by a golden goal in the 117th minute. Italy had taken the lead in the 18th minute and held it until the 88th minute before Seol Ki-hyeon equalized. Two missed goals and the expulsion of Francesco Totti gave rise to conspiracy theories in Italy .

2006 in Germany

President Giorgio Napolitano welcomes Fabio Cannavaro with the World Cup trophy

The 2006 final line-ups

For the second World Cup in Germany to Italy could confidently as group winners before again Norway , Scotland , Slovenia , Belarus and Moldavia qualify and was after the biggest win (4: 1) against Germany in a friendly three months before the World Cup, one of the favorites. There, in the group with the first-time qualified Ghanaians , the Czech Republic and the USA, they won the group, with only one point being given and one goal conceded in the 1-1 draw against the USA. In the round of 16 against Australia , Italy was lucky when an unjustified penalty was given to Italy in the fifth minute of stoppage time, which Francesco Totti converted to 1-0. Marco Materazzi , who would later play a decisive role, had seen the red card in the 51st minute , so that Italy had to play almost the entire second half with 10 players. In the quarter-finals, the first-time qualified Ukrainians were the opponents. They had previously needed 120 minutes and a penalty shootout to prevail against Switzerland in the round of 16 . After just six minutes, defender Gianluca Zambrotta gave Italy a 1-0 lead and Luca Toni made it to the semi-finals with two more goals. Here Italy met hosts Germany. In an even game, neither team managed to score in regular time and in extra time it looked like the penalty shoot-out would decide, in which the Germans, who have already won four penalties at a World Cup, Calculated advantages as Italy had never won a penalty shootout. In the 119th minute, however, defender Fabio Grosso made it 1-0 after a pass from Andrea Pirlo . Against the Germans, who were then vehemently pushing for equalization, Alessandro Del Piero managed to make it 2-0 in stoppage time, which ended the German summer fairy tale . In the final, the Italians then met ex-world champion France , who had already been eliminated in the preliminary round of the previous World Cup without a goal and had won the final with wins against Spain , Brazil and Portugal . France also took the lead after seven minutes with a penalty from Zinedine Zidane , the tournament's best player, but Materazzi equalized twelve minutes later. No more goals were scored in the rest of the regular time or in extra time, but France lost in the 110th minute to Zidane, who saw the red card after a headbutt against Materazzi. Like in 1994, the penalty shoot-out had to decide on the world title and for the first time Italy won it and became world champion for the fourth time. In addition, Fabio Cannavaro was awarded the Silver Ball and Andrea Pirlo with the Bronze Ball as the second and third best player and Gianluigi Buffon with the Lev Yashin Prize (since 2010 Golden Glove) as the best goalkeeper of the World Cup.

2010 in South Africa

Since the defending champions were no longer automatically qualified since the 2006 World Cup, Italy also had to qualify , which ended with seven wins and three draws as group winners. Ireland, which was coached by former Italian national coach Giovanni Trapattoni , Bulgaria , Cyprus , Montenegro , which was played for the first time, and Georgia were left behind.

At the first World Cup in Africa , Italy was drawn into a supposedly easy group with Paraguay , Slovakia , who qualified for the first time, and New Zealand , which qualified for the first time since 1982. After playing 1: 1 against Paraguay and New Zealand, another draw against Slovakia would have been enough to make it into the round of 16. But after 73 minutes the Slovaks led 2-0 with two goals from Róbert Vittek . Although succeeded Antonio Di Natale in the 81st minute of the first goal and Italy pushed for an equalizer, but a minute before the end of normal time increased two minutes earlier when substitute Kamil Kopúnek to 3: 1. The renewed connection goal in stoppage time by Fabio Quagliarella , who was substituted in for the second half , could not prevent the second preliminary round as defending champion.

2014 in Brazil

For the second World Cup in Brazil , Italy under Cesare Prandelli qualified as the second European team with six wins and four draws against Denmark , the Czech Republic , Bulgaria , Armenia and Malta . At the draw, Italy got into a group in which three ex-world champions met for the first time. Because in addition to outsiders Costa Rica , England and Uruguay were drawn. But the outsider of all people finished the group as group winner. Italy had defeated England, but lost to the Central and South Americans and only finished third. After the World Cup, Prandelli resigned as national coach.

2018 in Russia

In the qualification , which started in September 2016, the Italians faced Spain , Albania , Israel , Macedonia and Liechtenstein . Of the first five games, the Italians, who have been coached by Gian Piero Ventura since the quarter-finals at the Euro 2016 , won four games and only lost one point in the 1-1 home game against Spain. After half of the games they were behind the tied Spaniards because of the worse goal difference in second place. In the second half of the season they lost 3-0 in Spain and also gave up one point in their home game against Macedonia. So they were only second, but reached the second-best group runner in the playoff games of the group runners-up, where they met Sweden. After a 0-1 away defeat, they could not score a goal in the home game and missed the World Cup finals for the second time after 1958 with a goalless draw.

player

Ranking of the Italian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Paolo Maldini : 23 appearances in 4 tournaments

02. Antonio Cabrini , Fabio Cannavaro , Gaetano Scirea : 18 appearances in 3 or 4 (Cannavaro) tournaments

05. Dino Zoff : 17 appearances in 3 tournaments

06. Roberto Baggio , Giuseppe Bergomi : 16 appearances in 3 or 4 tournaments

07. Gianluigi Buffon , Paolo Rossi : 14 appearances in 4 or 2 tournaments

09. Claudio Gentile , Marco Tardelli , Gianluca Zambrotta  : 13 appearances in 2 or 3 (Zambrotta) tournaments

11. Dino Baggio , Alessandro Del Piero , Giacinto Facchetti , Sandro Mazzola  : 12 appearances in 2 (Baggio) or 3 tournaments

Ranking of the Italian World Cup players with the most goals

01. Christian Vieri , Paolo Rossi and Roberto Baggio - 9 goals each

04. Salvatore Schillaci - 6 goals

05. Silvio Piola and Alessandro Altobelli - 5 goals each

07. Gino Colaussi and Angelo Schiavio - 4 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1934: Virginio Rosetta (round of 16), Giampiero Combi (from quarter-finals)
• 1938: Giuseppe Meazza
• 1950: Riccardo Carapellese
• 1954: Giampiero Boniperti (1st game), Egisto Pandolfini (2nd and 3rd game)
• 1962: Lorenzo Buffon (1st and 3rd game), Bruno Mora (2nd game)
• 1966: Sandro Salvadore , Giacomo Bulgarelli (against North Korea)
• 1970, 1974: Giacinto Facchetti
• 1978, 1982: Dino Zoff
• 1986: Gaetano Scirea
• 1990: Giuseppe Bergomi
• 1994: Franco Baresi (1st and 2nd group match, final), Paolo Maldini (3rd group match, eighth to semifinals)
• 1998, 2002: Paolo Maldini
• 2006, 2010: Fabio Cannavaro
• 2014: Andrea Pirlo (1st game), Gianluigi Buffon (2nd and 3rd game)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1962: In the Battle of Santiago , the two Italians Giorgio Ferrini and Mario David are sent off and are suspended for the last group game against Switzerland .
• 1982: In the second round , Claudio Gentile receives a yellow card each in the games against Argentina and Brazil and is banned from the semi-finals. The second yellow card Gabriele Oriali receives in the final has no effect.
• 1986: Giuseppe Bergomi receives a yellow card in each of the first two group games and is banned from the final group game against South Korea .
• 1990: Nicola Berti receives the second yellow card in the round of 16 against Uruguay and is suspended against Ireland in the quarter-finals.
• 1994: Goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca receives a red card in the group game against Norway for handball outside the penalty area and is suspended for the last group game against Mexico. Gianfranco Zola received the red card twelve minutes after coming on in the round of 16 against Nigeria and was suspended for the next game. The twelve minutes remain his only operating time. The second yellow card for Alessandro Costacurta and Demetrio Albertini in the semifinals have no effect, as yellow cards from previous games after the 1990 World Cup are no longer considered. Albertini's third yellow card in the final also has no effect.
• 1998: Captain Paolo Maldini receives the second yellow card in the round of 16 against Norway, but since individual warnings from the preliminary round are not taken into account for the knockout round, he can be used in the quarter-finals.
• 2002: Fabio Cannavaro receives two yellow cards in the preliminary round and is suspended for the round of 16 against co-hosts South Korea. In this, Francesco Totti received the yellow-red card in extra time , but since Italy was eliminated, it had no further effect.
• 2006: Daniele De Rossi received the red card in the group game against the USA for assault and was suspended for four games. Marco Materazzi received the red card in the round of 16 against Australia and was not allowed to play against Ukraine. The second yellow card for Gennaro Gattuso and Gianluca Zambrotta in the round of 16 again have no effect, as does the second for Mauro Camoranesi in the semi-finals, as the yellow cards from the preliminary round are no longer taken into account. Materazzi, who later admitted to having headbutted Zinedine Zidane in the final, was suspended for two European Championship qualifiers.
• 2014: Mario Balotelli received the second yellow card and Claudio Marchisio the red card in the last group match . Since Italy are eliminated, the cards had no further effect on the tournament, but Marchisio is suspended for the next official international match.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Italy, the contact point for many legionaries from other countries, did not employ any legionnaires until 1994 and then only very few. Italy became the only country four times and the last (2006) without legionnaires world champions. Only Uruguay (1930 and 1950) and England (1966) were also always world champions without legionnaires.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1934-1954	0
1962-1994	0
1998 (5)	2 (1 in England, 1 in Spain)	Roberto Di Matteo (2), Christian Vieri (5)
2002 (4)	1 (1 in Spain)	Francesco Coco (2)
2006 and 2010	0
2014 (3)	3 (3 in France)	Salvatore Sirigu (1), Thiago Motta (3), Marco Verratti (2)

Games

Italy has played 83 World Cup games against 39 different opponents so far, only Germany (106/46) and Brazil (104/47) have played more World Cup games and against more different opponents. 45 games were won, 17 lost and 21 ended in a draw. No other country has drawn more often. Draw games had to be extended eleven times because a winner had to be determined, twice against Germany and France . Five games were regularly won in extra time, as well as a game on penalties. Only one game was lost in extra time without a penalty shoot-out (to a golden goal ), but three were lost to a penalty shoot-out. A game was repeated and won in the repetition.

Italy took part twice (1934 and 1986, 1 × as host and 1 × as world champion) in the first and opening game. So far, the Italian team has played twelve home games at world championships and had to play the hosts most often (9 times): four times in the preliminary round (1954/2, 1962, 1978), three times in the quarter-finals (1938, 1970 and 1998) and once each in the round of 16 (2002) and in the semi-finals (2006).

Italy lost three times (1970, 1994 and 1998) to the eventual world champions. In 1978 the future world champion was defeated in the preliminary round.

In 1978 and 1982 (in the intermediate round), 1986 (in the preliminary round) and 1990 (in the semi-finals) Italy played against the defending champions.

Italy met newcomers to the World Cup 14 times: 1934 (when you were a newcomer yourself) / Spain, Austria and Czechoslovakia, 1938 / Norway, 1966 / North Korea, 1970 / Israel, 1974 / Haiti, 1982 / Cameroon, 1990 / Ireland, 1994 / Nigeria, 2002 / Ecuador, 2006 / Ghana and the Czech Republic and 2010 / Slovakia.

Italy has so far played against teams from all confederations, which only Brazil, Chile, Germany, Croatia, Scotland and the USSR achieved.

Italy met Argentina, Brazil, Germany and France most frequently (5 times each).

Italy has played in 46 World Cup cities so far, most often (7 times) in Rome .

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1	May 27, 1934	7: 1	United States	H	Rome	World Championship round of 16	first World Cup game, first international match against the United States
2	05/31/1934	1: 1 a.d.	Spain	H	Florence	World Championship quarter finals
3	06/01/1934	1-0	Spain	H	Florence	World Championship Quarter Finals (Replay)
4th	06/03/1934	1-0	Austria	H	Milan	World Championship semi-finals
5	06/10/1934	2: 1 a.d.	Czechoslovakia	H	Rome	World championship final	First world title
6th	06/05/1938	2: 1 a.d.	Norway	*	Marseille ( FRA )	World Championship round of 16
7th	06/12/1938	3: 1	France	A.	Paris ( FRA )	World Championship quarter finals
8th	06/16/1938	2: 1	Brazil	*	Marseille ( FRA )	World Championship semi-finals	First international match against Brazil
9	06/19/1938	4: 2	Hungary	*	Paris ( FRA )	World championship final	Second world title. First title defense of a world champion
10	06/25/1950	2: 3	Sweden	*	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	World Cup 1950 preliminary round	First international match outside of Europe
11	07/02/1950	2-0	Paraguay	*	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	World Cup 1950 preliminary round	First international match against Paraguay. Last international match under F. Novo (President), Bardelli, Copernico & Biancone
12	06/17/1954	1: 2	Switzerland	A.	Lausanne ( SUI )	World Cup 1954 preliminary round
13	06/20/1954	4: 1	Belgium	*	Lugano ( SUI )	World Cup 1954 preliminary round
14th	06/23/1954	1: 4	Switzerland	A.	Basel ( SUI )	World Cup 1954 playoff for the quarter-finals	Last international match under Silvio Piola
15th	05/31/1962	0-0	BR Germany	*	Santiago ( CHL )	World Cup 1962 preliminary round	first World Cup game between two former world champions
16	06/02/1962	0: 2	Chile	A.	Santiago ( CHL )	World Cup 1962 preliminary round	first international match against Chile Battle of Santiago
17th	06/07/1962	3-0	Switzerland	*	Santiago ( CHL )	World Cup 1962 preliminary round	Last international match for Paolo Mazza and Giovanni Ferrari
18th	07/13/1966	2-0	Chile	*	Sunderland ( ENG )	1966 World Cup preliminary round	only win against Chile
19th	07/16/1966	0: 1	Soviet Union	*	Sunderland ( ENG )	1966 World Cup preliminary round
20th	07/19/1966	0: 1	North Korea	*	Middlesbrough ( ENG )	1966 World Cup preliminary round	First international match against North Korea. First defeat against an Asian team. Last international match under Edmondo Fabbri
21st	06/03/1970	1-0	Sweden	*	Toluca ( MEX )	World Championship
22nd	06/06/1970	0-0	Uruguay	*	Puebla ( MEX )	World Championship
23	06/11/1970	0-0	Israel	*	Toluca ( MEX )	World Championship
24	06/14/1970	4: 1	Mexico	A.	Toluca ( MEX )	World Championship quarter finals
25th	06/17/1970	4: 3 a.d.	BR Germany	*	Mexico City ( MEX )	World Championship semi-finals	Century game
26th	06/21/1970	1: 4	Brazil	*	Mexico City ( MEX )	World championship final
27	06/15/1974	3: 1	Haiti	*	Munich ( GER )	World Cup 1974 preliminary round	First international match against Haiti End of longest run of international matches without conceding a goal (12 games)
28	06/19/1974	1: 1	Argentina	*	Stuttgart ( GER )	World Cup 1974 preliminary round	42nd and last international match by Luigi Riva (record scorer with 35 goals)
29	06/23/1974	1: 2	Poland	*	Stuttgart ( GER )	World Cup 1974 preliminary round	Last international game under Ferruccio Valcareggi
30th	06/02/1978	2: 1	France	*	Mar del Plata ( ARG )	World Championship
31	06/06/1978	3: 1	Hungary	*	Mar del Plata ( ARG )	World Championship
32	06/10/1978	1-0	Argentina	A.	Buenos Aires ( ARG )	World Championship
33	06/14/1978	0-0	BR Germany	*	Buenos Aires ( ARG )	World Championship intermediate round
34	06/18/1978	1-0	Austria	*	Buenos Aires ( ARG )	World Championship intermediate round
35	06/21/1978	1: 2	Netherlands	*	Buenos Aires ( ARG )	World Championship intermediate round
36	06/24/1978	1: 2	Brazil	*	Buenos Aires ( ARG )	World Championship game for 3rd place
37	06/14/1982	0-0	Poland	*	Vigo ( ESP )	World Championship	100th international match by Dino Zoff
38	06/18/1982	1: 1	Peru	*	Vigo ( ESP )	World Championship	First international match against Peru
39	06/23/1982	1: 1	Cameroon	*	Vigo ( ESP )	World Championship	First international match against Cameroon
40	06/29/1982	2: 1	Argentina	*	Barcelona ( ESP )	World Championship  2nd final round
41	07/05/1982	3: 2	Brazil	*	Barcelona ( ESP )	World Championship  2nd final round
42	07/08/1982	2-0	Poland	*	Barcelona ( ESP )	World Championship semi-finals
43	07/11/1982	3: 1	BR Germany	*	Madrid ( ESP )	World championship final	Third world title
44	05/31/1986	1: 1	Bulgaria	*	Mexico City ( MEX )	1986 World Cup opening game
45	06/05/1986	1: 1	Argentina	*	Puebla ( MEX )	World Cup 1986 preliminary round
46	06/10/1986	3: 2	South Korea	*	Puebla ( MEX )	World Cup 1986 preliminary round	First international match against South Korea
47	06/17/1986	0: 2	France	*	Mexico City ( MEX )	World Cup 1986 round of 16	Last international match under Enzo Bearzot
48	06/09/1990	1-0	Austria	H	Rome	World Cup 1990 preliminary round
49	06/14/1990	1-0	United States	H	Rome	World Cup 1990 preliminary round
50	06/19/1990	2-0	Czechoslovakia	H	Rome	World Cup 1990 preliminary round	Last international game against Czechoslovakia
51	06/25/1990	2-0	Uruguay	H	Rome	World Cup 1990 round of 16	Biggest win against Uruguay
52	06/30/1990	1-0	Ireland	H	Rome	World Cup 1990 quarter-finals
53	07/03/1990	1: 1 a.d. 3: 4 i. E.	Argentina	H	Naples	World Cup 1990 semi-finals
54	07/07/1990	2: 1	England	H	Bari	World Cup 1990 game for 3rd place
55	06/18/1994	0: 1	Ireland	*	New York City ( USA )	World Cup 1994 preliminary round
56	06/23/1994	1-0	Norway	*	New York City ( USA )	World Cup 1994 preliminary round
57	06/28/1994	1: 1	Mexico	*	Washington, DC ( USA )	World Cup 1994 preliminary round
58	07/05/1994	2: 1 a.d.	Nigeria	*	Boston ( USA )	World Cup 1994 round of 16	First international match against Nigeria
59	07/09/1994	2: 1	Spain	*	Boston ( USA )	World Cup 1994 quarter-finals
60	07/13/1994	2: 1	Bulgaria	*	New York City ( USA )	World Cup 1994 semifinals
61	07/17/1994	0: 0 n.v. 2: 3 i. E.	Brazil	*	Los Angeles ( USA )	World Cup 1994 final	First World Cup final decided on penalties
62	06/11/1998	2: 2	Chile	*	Bordeaux ( FRA )	World Cup 1998 preliminary round
63	06/17/1998	3-0	Cameroon	*	Montpellier ( FRA )	World Cup 1998 preliminary round	100th World Cup goal by Luigi Di Biagio. Only win against Cameroon
64	06/23/1998	2: 1	Austria	*	Saint-Denis ( FRA )	World Cup 1998 preliminary round	300th victory for Italy
65	06/27/1998	1-0	Norway	*	Marseille ( FRA )	World Cup 1998 round of 16
66	07/03/1998	0: 0 n.v. 3: 4 i. E.	France	A.	Paris ( FRA )	World Cup 1998 quarter-finals	Last international match under Cesare Maldini
67	06/03/2002	2-0	Ecuador	*	Sapporo ( JPN )	World Cup 2002 preliminary round	First international match against Ecuador, 600th international match
68	06/08/2002	1: 2	Croatia	*	Ibaraki ( JPN )	World Cup 2002 preliminary round
69	06/13/2002	1: 1	Mexico	*	Ōita ( JPN )	World Cup 2002 preliminary round
70	06/18/2002	1: 2 by default GG	South Korea	A.	Daejeon ( KOR )	World Cup 2002 round of 16	126th and last international match by Paolo Maldini
71	06/12/2006	2-0	Ghana	*	Hanover ( GER )	World Cup 2006 preliminary round	First international match against Ghana
72	06/17/2006	1: 1	United States	*	Kaiserslautern ( GER )	World Cup 2006 preliminary round
73	06/22/2006	2-0	Czech Republic	*	Hamburg ( GER )	World Cup 2006 preliminary round	First win against the Czech Republic
74	06/26/2006	1-0	Australia	*	Kaiserslautern ( GER )	World Cup 2006 round of 16	First international match against Australia
75	06/30/2006	3-0	Ukraine	*	Hamburg ( GER )	World Cup 2006 quarter-finals	Biggest win against Ukraine
76	07/04/2006	2: 0 a.d.	Germany	A.	Dortmund ( GER )	World Cup 2006 semifinals
77	07/09/2006	1: 1 n.v. 5: 3 i. E.	France	*	Berlin ( GER )	World Cup 2006 final	Fourth world title 100th international match by Fabio Cannavaro End of Marcello Lippi's first term
78	06/14/2010	1: 1	Paraguay	*	Cape Town ( RSA )	World Cup 2010 preliminary round
79	06/20/2010	1: 1	New Zealand	*	Nelspruit ( RSA )	World Cup 2010 preliminary round
80	06/24/2010	2: 3	Slovakia	*	Johannesburg ( RSA )	World Cup 2010 preliminary round	136th and last international match by record national player Fabio Cannavaro 56th and last international match under Marcello Lippi
81	06/14/2014	2: 1	England	*	Manaus ( BRA )	World Cup 2014 preliminary round
82	06/20/2014	0: 1	Costa Rica	*	Recife ( BRA )	World Cup 2014 preliminary round
83	06/24/2014	0: 1	Uruguay	*	Natal ( BRA )	World Cup 2014 preliminary round	Last international match under Cesare Prandelli

Highest victories and defeats

The Italian team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  Chile : 2-0 preliminary round 1966 (only win against Chile)
•  Ecuador : 2-0 preliminary round 2002 (only win against Ecuador)
•  Ghana : 2-0 preliminary round 2006 (only game against Ghana)
•  Haiti : 3-1 preliminary round 1974 (only win against Haiti)
•  Cameroon : 3-0 preliminary round 1998 (only win against Cameroon)
•  Nigeria : 2-1 aet. Round of 16 1994 (only win against Nigeria)
•  South Korea : 3-2 preliminary round 1986 (only win against South Korea)
•  Czech Republic : 2-0 preliminary round 2006
•  Ukraine : 3-0 quarter-finals 2006

The Italian team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Brazil : 1: 4 final in 1970 (also a 1: 4 in the Bicentennial Cup Tournament 1976 and a 0: 3 in the Confederations Cup 2009)
•  Chile : 0-2 preliminary round 1962 (only defeat against Chile)
•  Costa Rica : 0-1 preliminary round 2014 (only loss to Costa Rica)
•  North Korea : 0-1 preliminary round 1966 (only game against North Korea)
•  Switzerland : 1: 4 preliminary round 1954 playoff for second place (also two 0: 3 defeats in 1911 and 1920)
•  Slovakia : 2-3 preliminary round 2010 (only defeat against Slovakia)
•  South Korea : 1: 2 GG round of 16 2002 (only defeat against South Korea)

Record against the other world champions at world championships

•  Argentina : 5 games: 2 wins, 3 draws (1 defeat as new); 6: 4 goals
•  Brazil : 5 games (including 2 × finals, 1 × 3rd place, 1 × semi-finals): 2 wins, 1 draw (defeat as new), 2 defeats; 7: 9 goals
•  Germany : 5 games (1 × final, 2 × semi-finals), 3 wins, 2 draws; 9: 4 goals
•  France : 5 games (including 1 × final): 2 wins, 2 draws (1 win and 1 defeat each), 1 defeat; 6: 5 goals
•  Spain : 3 games, 2 wins, 1 draw; 4: 2 goals
•  Uruguay : 3 games, 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss; 2-1 goals
•  England : 2 games, 2 wins; 4: 2 goals

Records

team

• Most draws (21)
• Fewest games (4) to become world champions (1938), as well as Uruguay in 1930 and 1950
• Most games with overtime: won 11 times - 5 times, lost 3 times on penalties, lost 1 time to golden goal, won on penalties or without a decision followed by a replay
• The most common semi-final pairings (2 × each) were Germany against Italy (1970 and 2006) and Germany against France (1982 and 1986)
• Most of the games against a World Cup host. 9 games: 1938, 1954 (2 ×), 1962, 1970, 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006.
• The latest decisive penalty in regular time: in the round of 16 Italy - Australia at the 2006 World Cup; Francesco Totti converted him to 1-0 for Italy in the fifth minute of stoppage time
• The longest run of matches without a goal: Italy with five games in 1990 and Switzerland with four games at the 2006 World Cup and one game at the 2010 World Cup
• The highest win and the highest-scoring result in the first game of a World Cup: 7-1 against the USA in 1934
• The highest victory of a team in the first World Cup game: 7-1 against the USA in 1934
• First host to qualify (1934)
• First world champion who could defend the title
• The second most common pairing in the final: Brazil - Italy (2 ×) after Germany - Argentina (3 ×)

player

• The oldest participant to become world champion: Dino Zoff at the age of 40 years and 133 days at the 1982 World Cup
• Most participations in World Cup tournaments: Gianluigi Buffon (1998–2014, played in four tournaments), Antonio Carbajal (Mexico, 1950–1966) and Lothar Matthäus (Germany, 1982–1998): five each
• Most World Cup game minutes: Paolo Maldini with 2217 minutes
• Most World Cup game minutes without conceding a goal: Walter Zenga with 517 minutes (1990)

• Two Italian players scored World Cup anniversary goals:
  • 0100th goal: Angelo Schiavio - the 5: 1 at 7: 1 in the first game of the World Cup against the USA on May 27, 1934
  • 1900. Goal: Christian Vieri - the 1-0 in the 1: 2 n.V. against South Korea in the round of 16 on June 18, 2002

Trainer

• Most coaching titles: 2, Vittorio Pozzo (1934 + 1938)

Negative records

• Most lost penalties: Italy, England and Spain (3 out of 4 each)
• First defending champion to lose a World Cup game and eliminated in the preliminary round (1950)
• Most frequent preliminary rounds as defending champions: 1950 and 2010
• Gianluca Pagliuca was the first goalkeeper to receive a red card in 1994 .
• Italy is the only team that has lost a World Cup game against both Korean teams: in 1966 with 0: 1 in the preliminary round against North and in 2002 with 1: 2 a.s. through Golden Goal in the quarter-finals against South Korea.

See also

• Italian national soccer team / European championships
• Italian Women's National Football Team / World Championships

Web links

• Football World - Statistics - Italy on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"

References and footnotes

1. ↑ Won one game on penalties and lost three.
2. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2014 (PDF file; 195 kB)
3. ↑ 1950 FIFA World Cup Final Tournament Italy - Sweden 2: 3
4. ↑ 1954 FIFA World Cup Final Tournament Switzerland - Italy 2: 1
5. ↑ FIFA World Cup Qualifying Tournament 1956-1958 North. Ireland 2-1 Italy
6. ↑ fifa.com: Italy against Sweden, Switzerland against Northern Ireland
7. ↑ cnn.com: "FIFA bans Zidane for head butt"
8. ↑ fifa.com: "Decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on World Cup cases"