Italian national soccer team

This article covers the Italian men's national football team. For other Italian national soccer teams, see Italian national soccer team (disambiguation) .

Italy
Italia

Nickname (s)	Squadra Azzurra Gli Azzurri La Nazionale
Association	Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
confederacy	UEFA
Technical sponsor	puma
Head coach	Roberto Mancini
Assistant coach	Alberico Evani Attilio Lombardo Giulio Nuciari Fausto Salsano
captain	Giorgio Chiellini
Record scorer	Luigi Riva ( 35 )
Record player	Gianluigi Buffon ( 176 )
Home stadium	Changing stages
FIFA code	ITA
FIFA rank	13. (1607 points) (as of July 16, 2020)
First jersey Second jersey Third jersey
Balance sheet
824 games 438 wins 224 draws 162 defeats
statistics
First international match Italy 6-2 France ( Milan , Italy ; May 15, 1910)
Biggest win Italy 9-0 USA ( Brentford , England ; August 2, 1948)
Biggest defeat Hungary 7-1 Italy ( Budapest , Hungary ; April 6, 1924)
Successes in tournaments
World Championship
Participation in the finals	18 ( first : 1934 )
Best results	World champion in 1934 , 1938 , 1982 , 2006
European Championship
Participation in the finals	9 ( first : 1968 )
Best results	European Champion 1968
Confederations Cup
Participation in the finals	2 ( first : 2009 )
Best results	Third 2013
Olympic games bronze 1928 gold 1936
(As of November 18, 2019)

The Italian national football team ( Italian Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia ) of men is the selection team of the Italian football association Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) . The team, also known as Squadra Azzurra , Gli Azzurri or La Nazionale , is headed by the Commissario Tecnico , the national coach . She takes part in international matches against other national associations. The Italian selection is one of the most successful national teams with four world championship titles ( 1934 , 1938 , 1982 , 2006 ), one European championship title ( 1968 ), two successes in the European Cup for national soccer teams ( 1927–1930 , 1933–1935 ) and an Olympic victory ( 1936 ) in football .

history

The Italian national team before the international match against France (1910)

Game scene from the international match against Germany in Milan in 1929

The Italian football association Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) was founded on March 16, 1898 in Turin and has been a FIFA member since 1905. The first international match of the selection was played on May 15, 1910 in Milan in the Arena Civica against France , the Italians won the friendly against the Équipe Tricolore 6-2. Pietro Lana scored the first goal and hat trick in history for the Azzurri in that game .

Italy achieved its first two major successes in 1934 and 1938 , when they could win the World Cup. Outstanding players at that time were Giuseppe Meazza and Silvio Piola . The then national coach Vittorio Pozzo is still the only coach who has been world champion twice in a row. In the intervening years, this team also won the gold medal ahead of Austria at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin . In 1968 the first and so far only European Championship title was won.

In 1982 they won the third world title. The team with top scorer Paolo Rossi , who shot Brazil almost single-handedly with three goals in the second round, Dino Zoff , the world-class goalkeeper who was already 40 years old at this World Cup and a legendary defensive line around Gaetano Scirea , won that against Germany Final with 3: 1.

The fourth world title was added in 2006 . At the World Cup in Germany they won the final against France 5-3 on penalties, after they had been 1-1 after 120 minutes.

The losing streak of the Italians at the important tournaments before was almost tragic. In three consecutive world championships ( 1990 , 1994 , 1998 ) they were eliminated by penalty shoot-out (1990 in the semi-finals against Argentina; 1994 in the final against Brazil; 1998 in the quarter-finals against France). Overall, Italy lost only two games in regular time in the five World Cups between 1982 and 1998. In the final of the EM 2000 against France they only conceded the 1-1 equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time after well-managed regular time and lost to David Trezeguets golden goal in extra time. The end of the 2002 World Cup came in the second round against South Korea, also through Golden Goal. The Italians had their own golden goal withdrawn in controversial referee decisions and their star Francesco Totti was sent off for an alleged swallow inside the penalty area. In the previous tournament, they had been denied a total of four regular goals due to wrong decisions by the referees. At the 2004 European Championships , they were eliminated undefeated after the preliminary round, tied with the two teams in the group that were better placed due to the goal difference.

The Italian national team is considered to be difficult to play against internationally because of the stereotype that they usually have a very defensive stance. This image emerged especially after the 1966 World Cup , when Helenio Herrera , the advocate of the Catenaccio, became national coach for a short time . His assistant coach Ferruccio Valcareggi was later Herrera's successor, he directed the play of was Catenaccios continued until the early 1970s.

Italy traditionally plays in blue national team jerseys. This is why the team is nicknamed Gli Azzurri ( The Azure Blue ). Historically, this goes back to the national colors of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont , which took over the leading role in the unification of Italy in the 19th century.

The headquarters of the FIGC association is located in the capital Rome , the primary training and performance center of the national team in the Tuscan capital Florence .

The Pozzo era (1910–1938)

The first three decades of the history of the Italian national football team were shaped by one man: Vittorio Pozzo . Two years after Italy's first international match, he took over the position of national coach in 1912. With the exception of a few interruptions, he led the team until 1948. The first success was participation in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam . Italy played with a 2-3-5 system and only failed in the semi-finals against the outstanding team from Uruguay . Uruguay, which won the gold medal in 1924, also won this tournament. Italy secured the bronze medal with an 11-3 win over Egypt.

They did not want to take part in the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930 because of the long crossing. In the same year, however, Italy managed to win the first-ever European Cup for national soccer teams, this tournament is considered the forerunner of the European Championship. In this tournament, European teams played against each other over a period of two years. Vittorio Pozzo achieved something unique with Italy in the next few years: He won two world championship titles (1934 and 1938) in a row. Between the two titles, Italy again won the European Cup for National Soccer Teams in 1935 and the gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany. The final in the Berlin Olympic Stadium was won against the selection of Austria. The stars of this golden Italian era were Giuseppe Meazza , Silvio Piola , Luis Monti , Virginio Rosetta , Giuseppe Ruffino and Giovanni Ferrari .

The tragedy of Superga (1948–1962)

In contrast to Germany, Italy, which had switched sides in World War II , was admitted to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, the first after the war. In 1948 coach Vittorio Pozzo, who had led the team with a few interruptions since 1912, resigned. In 1949, Italian football was badly hit by the tragic Superga plane crash . Along with other passengers, all the players on the professional team of the AC Turin football club , which was considered the best in Italy at the time , died. Ten of these players were in the selection of the national team. Fearing another crash, the team traveled to the World Cup in Brazil by ship. Here you failed in the preliminary round. The 1950s were unsuccessful. In 1954 they failed in the preliminary round, for the 1958 World Cup the qualification was missed. Although the two Lombard clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan shaped European football in the 1960s, it was not possible to implement these successes in the national team. At the EM 1960 you didn't even start and in Chile 1962 you failed again in the preliminary round. The period between 1945 and 1962 was marked by numerous coach changes. The team was led by technical commissions several times.

The Battle of Santiago (1962–1966)

On June 2, 1962, the second round of the 1962 World Cup in Chile between hosts Chile and Italy took place in the Estadio Nacional de Chile in front of 66,000 spectators. This game would go down in football history as the Battle of Santiago . In the 8th minute, the English referee Ken Aston sent the Italian Giorgio Ferrini off after a foul on Honorino Landa . The game could only be continued after an eight-minute break. Towards the end of the first half, Chile's midfielder Leonel Sánchez returned the favor to Mario David for the hard man marking by knocking the Italian down. When David realized the referee would do nothing, he kicked Sánchez in the 41st minute and was sent off.

The brutality only increased. Italy striker Humberto Maschio suffered a nasal bone fracture from a punch from Sánchez . This also went unpunished, as the referee did not dare to send a Chilean off the field. There were repeated unsportsmanlike conduct. The referee had to arbitrate between the arguing players several times due to the increasing number of fistfights, and the support of the security forces was necessary twice more.

The Chileans also had a hard time against the Italians, who were playing with two men outnumbered. Only two late goals by Jaime Ramírez in the 73rd and Jorge Toro in the 87th minute decided the game in favor of the hosts, who qualified for the quarter-finals. After the Italians could not qualify for the next round, despite a clear victory in the last preliminary round match against Switzerland, coach Paolo Mazza resigned and handed over the office to Edmondo Fabbri .

In qualifying for the European Football Championship in 1964 , the team failed in the round of 16 with 0: 2 and 1: 1 at the USSR . The qualification for the Soccer World Cup in England in 1966 succeeded. Here the Italian team prevailed undefeated as group first. The subsequent World Cup in England, however, turned out to be a disgrace. Already in the preliminary round Italy surprisingly lost 1-0 to North Korea in the last group game . Fabbri had to resign. He was succeeded by Ferruccio Valcareggi .

European champions and the game of the century (1966–1975)

Memorial plaque at the Aztec Stadium

Ferruccio Valcareggi took over the office of national coach together with Helenio Herrera . Herrera only stayed until 1967, so Valcareggi led the team alone from 1967. He led Italy to the European Championship in 1968 and reached the final of the World Cup in Mexico.

At the Soccer World Cup in Mexico in 1970 , Italy met Germany in the semi-finals on June 17, 1970 in front of over 100,000 spectators in the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City . This game went down in football history as the game of the century. The early Italian 1-0 lead by Roberto Boninsegna in the eighth minute was only compensated by Karl-Heinz Schnellinger in stoppage time in the second half, shortly before the actual final whistle. The German television commentator Ernst Huberty led to a cult statement (“… of all things Schnellinger!”), Because Schnellinger earned his money as a professional in Italy at AC Milan and before that at AS Roma and AC Mantova and this was his only goal in 47 international matches was.

There was therefore an extension in which Gerd Müller brought the German team into the lead in the 94th minute, which was equalized by Tarcisio Burgnich four minutes later. A minute before the break, Luigi Riva made it 3-2 for Italy. Gerd Müller equalized again to 3: 3 for the DFB selection. One minute after the German equalizer, Gianni Rivera, who replaced Sandro Mazzola at halftime, decided the match with his goal for Italy to make it 4-3. At the end of the game, the spectators rose from their seats and applauded both teams.

Two former world champions, Italy and Brazil, met in the final. Brazil took the lead with a goal from Pelé in the 18th minute. Roberto Boninsegna equalized in the 37th minute. In the second half, the exhaustion of the Italians after the game of the century made itself felt. They couldn't do much to counter the creativity of the Brazilians. Gerson scored in the 66th minute to make it 2-1. The 3-1 prepared by Gerson and Pelé by Jairzinho and the fourth goal by Alberto Carlos finally sealed Italy's defeat in the final.

At the European Championships in 1972 they failed to qualify in the quarter-finals due to the eventual hosts Belgium. The 1974 World Cup in Germany was a catastrophe: The vice world champion did not survive the preliminary round. Goalkeeper Dino Zoff had not conceded a goal in twelve international matches from September 1972 to June 1974. At the World Cup finals, the Haitian Sanon ended this series without conceding a goal after 1143 minutes. The result of this tournament was the dismissal of Valcareggis. Fulvio Bernardini took over, who was responsible for a generation change. Top performers and veterans of the Squadra Azzurra such as Tarcisio Burgnich , Roberto Boninsegna , Sandro Mazzola , Gianni Rivera and Luigi Riva resigned from the Italian national team in 1974. Due to problems in the qualification for the EM 1976 assistant coach Enzo Bearzot then took over the office.

The third world title (1975–1986)

In 1975, Enzo Bearzot , “The Silent from Friuli”, took over as national coach. He was to stay until 1986 and oversee a total of 104 international matches. Bearzot was to become the most successful national coach in Italy after the Second World War .

The qualification for the European Football Championship 1976 , in which only four teams took part in the finals in a semi-final, did not make Italy. Italy was in the same group as the reigning vice world champion Netherlands around Johan Cruyff and the World Cup third Poland around star striker Grzegorz Lato . Italy only came third in this group.

Two years later they qualified for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina . Here they qualified with five wins and one defeat before England . Italy started the tournament well. The hosts and eventual world champions Argentina were defeated 1-0. In the second group of the final they met the world champion and vice European champion Germany and the vice world champion and EM third party Netherlands. Because of a 2-1 defeat against the Netherlands they only reached the game for third place, which they lost 2-1 to Brazil. Before the tournament, Bearzot discovered second-rate striker Paolo Rossi , who performed well in Argentina and scored three goals.

This tournament was followed by the 1980 European Championship in their own country. Italy could not reach the final. They played 0-0 twice and won 1-0. So you only reached the game for third place, which you lost against the defending champion Czechoslovakia on penalties. At the end of 1980 they played the so-called Mini-World Cup , where they drew against the vice world champions Netherlands, but lost against the eventual tournament winner Uruguay and thus eliminated.

The Italian players Dino Zoff (left), Franco Causio (2nd from left) and coach Enzo Bearzot (from right) together with President Sandro Pertini on the return flight after winning the World Cup in 1982

The 1982 World Cup in Spain was not a favorite. Reaching the second group of the finals was excruciating for Italy: after three draws in the preliminary round of the World Cup, there was criticism of the Bearzots game system. Italy only reached the second final round because they scored one more goal against Cameroon with the same goal difference. Striker Rossi, whom Bearzot still trusted, failed to score. In the second round, tournament favorites Brazil and world champions Argentina waited with superstar Diego Armando Maradona . Italy, who played from a solid defense and counterattacked, defeated Argentina. The tough guy Claudio Gentile had taken Maradona out of the game. Italy had found its shape. 18-year-old defender Giuseppe Bergomi was set to become one of the tournament's best players. Bruno Conti , Gaetano Scirea , Tardelli and Altobelli should also do a great job. The game against Argentina was followed by one of the greatest hours in Italian football. The 3-2 win over Brazil in Barcelona is still considered one of the best games in World Cup history. Gentile took care of superstar Zico and Bergomi took care of Eder. Paolo Rossi made the game of his life: he scored all three goals. This was followed by a 2-0 semi-final victory against Poland with two Rossi goals and in the final they faced European champions Germany , who prevailed in the match of the century against France (" Night of Seville "). Here Italy won clearly 3-1. Paolo Rossi was the top scorer with six goals. The dutiful Bearzot did not resign at the peak, but continued to look after the team. The qualification for the European Championship in 1984 was a disaster: World champions Italy failed as group fourth of five teams. Only Cyprus played more unsuccessfully in this group. Italy played better at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and was eliminated in the round of 16 after losing to strong European champions France . Bearzot resigned after the tournament.

A new generation (1986–1991)

Azeglio Vicini joined Bearzot's legacy in August 1986 after the 1986 World Cup . The former offensive midfielder and later defensive player, who played for Sampdoria Genoa , was to stay until 1991.

Of the generation that had triumphed in Madrid in 1982, Giuseppe Bergomi and Alessandro Altobelli were left. The younger generation of Italian players around Walter Zenga , Franco Baresi , Paolo Maldini , Carlo Ancelotti , Roberto Donadoni and Gianluca Vialli formed the core of the new team. Italy delivered a solid performance at the European Football Championship in Germany in 1988 . They were unbeaten behind runner-up world champions Germany and tied for second in the group and made it to the semi-finals. Here, however, they were subject to the USSR .

Expectations were high at the 1990 soccer World Cup in their own country. New to the squad were Roberto Baggio and Salvatore Schillaci . Italy easily reached the semi-finals without conceding a single goal and the Sicilian Schillaci became a celebrated national hero with his goals. However, the semi-finals turned into a nightmare for Italy, where they met world champion Argentina, who had tormented themselves through the tournament with moderate performances. Italy took an early lead through Schillaci, but Caniggia equalized in the 67th minute. Argentina thus saved themselves on penalties, where the penalty killer Sergio Goycochea once again proved his class. Italy lost and achieved third place by beating England. Schillaci was named top scorer and best player of the tournament. Vicini resigned a year later after Italy failed to qualify for the 1992 European Championship in Sweden.

Sacchi's Cultural Revolution (1991–1998)

The AC Milan master coach , Arrigo Sacchi , succeeded him in 1991. Sacchi not only wanted to make Italy successful again, he also tried to change the game culture. Instead of tactical defensive play, he wanted to implement his philosophy of offensive football, which was successful at club level, in the national team. Ultimately, however, the right players were missing. Only Roberto Baggio was absolutely world class on the offensive. The qualification for the soccer world championship 1994 in the USA was reached before Switzerland. The tournament started with a disappointment. Italy lost 1-0 to underdog Ireland and only survived the group in third place. Similar to 1982, Italy proved to be a tournament team again. Roberto Baggio played three great games and almost single-handedly shot Italy to the World Cup final. Here the revenge for the 1970 defeat against Brazil should succeed. The final was characterized by total security and both teams tactically neutralized each other for almost the entire season. After two hours it was 0-0 and there was a penalty shoot-out . Ironically, the top performers Baresi and Baggio awarded their penalties and Brazil, not Italy, won their fourth world title.

Lineups for the 1994 World Cup final

This near-triumph was followed by another disappointment: At the European Championships in England, they retired as group third after a victory against Russia, a defeat against the eventual European runner-up, the Czech Republic, and a draw against eventual European champions Germany.

Cesare Maldini , Paolo Maldin's father, took over as national coach after the disappointment. He qualified for the World Cup in France and made it to the quarter-finals there. There you met the eventual world champion France. After 120 minutes it was 0-0 and the penalty shoot-out had to decide. Luigi Di Biagio was the unlucky person who put the ball against the bar and sealed Italy's fate.

From the Golden Goal defeats to the "Scandinavian match agreement" to the World Cup title (1998-2006)

After the 1998 World Cup , Dino Zoff became the new national coach for Italy. The first games under his direction were promising: After two victories against Wales and Switzerland in the European Championship qualification , a draw against Spain in a friendly followed. After that, however, the expected successes did not materialize. Despite mediocre games in the European Championship qualification (including 1: 1 and 0: 0 against Belarus , 0: 0 against Switzerland and 2: 3 against Denmark ), the ticket to the European Championship 2000 was still bought , as you were one point ahead of the Danes and Swiss lay. The game of the Azzurri also remained changeable in preparation for the European Championship : Sometimes they won confidently, like in the 2-0 test against Portugal , and sometimes they lost after a desperate performance (1: 3 against Belgium , 0: 1 against Norway ). Nevertheless, the expectations for the tournament in Belgium and the Netherlands were high.

In the preliminary round group B you could move into the next round with three wins. In the first game they defeated the well-kept Turkish team 2-1 with goals from Antonio Conte and Filippo Inzaghi . In the second game a never threatened 2-0 win against hosts Belgium succeeded in which Stefano Fiore and Francesco Totti brought about the decision. In the third game, before which they were already qualified, they beat the Swedes 2-1 with a late Del Piero goal. In the quarter-final match against Romania they won 2-0 with confidence, the game being decided after 60 minutes by goals from Totti and Inzaghi and a red card against Gheorghe Hagi . In the semifinals there was a clash with the second host Netherlands . This game was 0-0 both after regular and extended playing time. After 34 minutes Gianluca Zambrotta was sent off with a yellow-red card , and shortly afterwards the strong Francesco Toldo saved a penalty from Frank de Boer . Despite the almost 90-minute majority, the Dutch failed to score, as Patrick Kluivert also only hit the post with his penalty in the second half. So Italy saved itself from penalties . After goals by the Italians by Di Biagio , Pessotto and Totti as well as Maldini's miss , the Dutch were under pressure after two of three missed penalties (Toldo saves against De Boer, Stam forgives), but Paul Bosvelt failed because of the brilliant Toldo, who thus made it to the final Italy made perfect. In the final against France , Marco Delvecchio scored a goal in the 55th minute and took the lead until stoppage time. In this Sylvain Wiltord was able to achieve the 1-1 and thus force the extension, in which David Trezeguet decided the game with the 2-1, the golden goal . With Francesco Toldo, Fabio Cannavaro , Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti, there were four players in the UEFA all-star team during the good European Championship . Despite the good performance, Zoff announced his resignation from office as national coach.

The French and Italian teams before the European Championship final on July 2, 2000 in Rotterdam

Giovanni Trapattoni , who has so far been very successful in club football, has been hired as Dino Zoff's successor . Under him, the national team was able to continue its good development, so that Trap lost only two friendlies until the 2002 World Cup (1: 2 against Argentina and 0: 1 against the Czech Republic ). Otherwise, good results were achieved throughout, such as the test game wins against England (1-0, 2-1) for example. In the World Cup qualifying group 8 , they easily achieved first place and secured participation in the World Cup with eight wins and two draws.

National coach from 2000 to 2004: Giovanni Trapattoni

For the World Cup you were drawn into Group G together with Ecuador , Croatia and Mexico . In the first game a sovereign 2-0 win against Ecuador was achieved, which was ensured early on by two Vieri goals. In the second group game they surprisingly lost 2-1 to the Croatians, who showed their morale after falling behind and earned the victory. In the last game you had to score points against the Mexicans, who had played well up until then, as a defeat threatened elimination, as Ecuador could prevail with a win or Croatia with a draw or their own victory. But after just 35 minutes they were 0: 1 behind through Jared Borgetti's goal . However, Alessandro Del Piero , who had recently been substituted on, was still able to make it 1-1 in the 85th minute, so that they were one point ahead of Croatia and Ecuador and reached the next round in second place. In this round of 16 match against South Korea , however, they were eliminated from the tournament very unlucky: Despite a penalty held by Gianluigi Buffon at the beginning of the game and the early 1-0 by Vieri, they could not win the game. Shortly before the end, the South Koreans equalized and thus saved themselves in overtime . In this, Francesco Totti was sent off the field and again shortly before the end of the game, South Korea scored the decisive 2-1, as the game was over due to the golden goal rule. The dismissal against Totti and a regular goal Damiano Tommasis scored in extra time , which was disallowed , were the biggest upsets of the game. After the World Cup tournament , referee Byron Moreno was suspended by FIFA . He later also admitted that withdrawing the Italian goal in extra time was a mistake. Overall, the tournament was a disappointment for Italy , despite the dubious referee decisions that favored the elimination. After the tournament, record national player Paolo Maldini ended his national team career after 126 internationals.

After the bitter World Cup , Trapattoni wanted to lead the Italians to the European Championship victory. But even at the beginning of the European Championship qualification they did not play convincingly and had only four points after a test match defeat against Slovenia and the first three games against Azerbaijan (2-0), Serbia and Montenegro (1: 1) and Wales (1: 2) on the account. The team threatened to miss an EM tournament for the first time since 1992 if the results continued to be poor . Despite the dwindling trust in the national coach and team, finally convincing results (four wins, one draw) made it possible to qualify for the 2004 European Championships in Portugal . In preparation for this one continued to show decent performances (2: 1 against Portugal , 1: 1 against Spain , 4: 0 against Tunisia ), so that the hopes for the first title after 1982 rose again.

In group C of the European Championships , they met Denmark , Sweden and Bulgaria . No goals were scored in a weak first game against Denmark. In the second game against Sweden, the young Antonio Cassano took the lead, but failed to expand it, so that Zlatan Ibrahimović scored the equalizer shortly before the end of the game and they parted 1-1. Before the last game against already eliminated Bulgarians, the starting position for the Italians was very complicated. To get into the quarter- finals you had to win. In addition, the game between the Danes and Swedes was not allowed to end in a draw of 2: 2 or higher, as they would have been eliminated (no matter how high they would win against Bulgaria) due to the direct comparison. A 2-1 win, achieved by a goal from Cassano in the fourth minute of stoppage time, at least kept the chance of the quarter-finals alive. However, Denmark and Sweden drew 2-2, exactly the result that was enough for both of them to advance, so that Italy was eliminated in the preliminary round. Particularly in the spotlight was the suspicion of a match agreement, as Morten Olsen continued to fuel the discussions after the final whistle with the statement “Of course we will make a deal.” Before the game, the Danes deservedly led 2-1, but in the final phase of the Sweden managed to make it 2-2 after a goalkeeper mistake by Thomas Sørensens , which meant that both teams advanced and Italy was eliminated. Trapattoni, however, rejected the criticism and said that both teams behaved athletically and the elimination was based solely on their performance. The Italian association reacted accordingly and let Trapattoni's contract expire. Despite the early exit, Gianluca Zambrotta was honored with listing on the All-Star Team .

After the expiring contract of Giovanni Trapattoni was not renewed, who brought Italian association with Marcello Lippi a previously highly successful club coach as new Commissario Tecnico . After initial failures (0-2 against Iceland in the first game and further draws against weaker opponents), the team managed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup , which was rather mixed. Mostly they did compulsory tasks, but sometimes the team wasn't convincing enough against the group opponents (0: 1 against Slovenia , 0: 0 against Norway and 1: 1 against Scotland ), so that doubts always arose. In preparation for the World Cup, however, the team was able to show its class (especially in the 3-1 win against the Netherlands and 4-1 against Germany ) and indicated that there was great potential.

Lineups for the 2006 World Cup final

Tifosi at the public viewing during the final game of the 2006 World Cup in the Circus Maximus in Rome

At the World Cup, a good preliminary round succeeded with two safe victories against Ghana in the first game and against the Czech Republic in the third game (both 2-0) as well as a draw against the USA (1: 1), which caused a sensation, as three were sent off were. The first red card was given to Daniele De Rossi for an elbow strike at Brian McBride , the second to Pablo Mastroeni for a dangerous tackle against Andrea Pirlo . In addition, Eddie Pope received a yellow-red card for repeated foul play , overall the harshness of the game was noticeable. As group winners, they qualified for the round of 16 , in which they beat Australia 1-0 despite Marco Materazzi being sent off . The penalty that Francesco Totti converted in the fifth minute of stoppage time was initially highly controversial, but the television pictures clearly showed that Fabio Grosso had actually been fouled by Lucas Neill . In the quarter-finals they were able to move into the semi- finals very confidently and safely against Ukraine 3-0 . In this one met host Germany and offered a high-class and exciting game, in which two late goals in extra time by Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero made it into the final. In the final , which turned out to be a breathtaking game, you faced the French, who were getting stronger in the tournament . After seven minutes, Zinédine Zidane was able to convert a penalty from Marco Materazzi to Florent Malouda , but shortly afterwards Materazzi converted a corner kick to equalize. The game remained balanced until the end, although France gained an overweight, especially through the Zidanes class. Only in the extension it fizzled out with the dismissal for Zizou . This had of provocations Materazzi to an assault carried away and gave this a head butt, and he the referee was sent off. With no more goals scored, the penalty shoot-out had to make the decision. In this all Italian shooters scored, while David Trezeguet only hit the crossbar , making Italy world champions for the fourth time. In addition, Fabio Cannavaro was awarded the silver glove , Andrea Pirlo the bronze ball and Gianluigi Buffon the golden glove . These three were also on the all-star team of the tournament along with Gianluca Zambrotta , Gennaro Gattuso , Francesco Totti and Luca Toni . Shortly afterwards, Francesco Totti and, a little later, Alessandro Nesta announced their resignation from the national team.

Decline with Vice European Championship title (2006-2017)

President Napolitano with captain Cannavaro and coach Lippi after winning the 2006 World Cup

After the World Cup victory, Marcello Lippi resigned as coach, so that Roberto Donadoni took over. He got off to a poor start as coach of the Azzurri and was also unable to successfully play his first international match (0: 2 against Croatia ) and the first matches of the European Championship qualification (1: 1 against Lithuania and 1: 3 against France ). After that, however, the team recovered and was able to celebrate nine wins and one draw in qualifying, which made them the group winners for the 2008 European Football Championship . In doing so, however, one did not play particularly attractive football, but merely achieved the desired results. In preparation for the EM you could win two friendlies against Portugal and Belgium and just lost against the Spaniards .

Italy got off to a catastrophic false start in the European Championship. The failure of Fabio Cannavaro meant a significant weakening of the defense, which was still the Italian showpiece at the 2006 World Cup. The numerous mistakes were exploited by the Dutch in the first game. After the 2-0 break they had several chances to get back into the game in the second half, but the Italians lacked the necessary calm and cleverness to overcome Edwin van der Sar. However, the experienced team quickly recovered from this defeat and presented themselves a few days later in the game against Romania. The high-class game ultimately ended in a draw. The final game against France was won 2-0; especially the Italian defensive found its way back to its old strength against the French team. Thus, the expected move into the quarter-finals succeeded as second in the group. In this, thanks to a disciplined tactical style of play, the penalty shoot-out against the eventual tournament winner Spain was achieved . There they lost 2: 4. With the departure of the Italian team, Donadoni's contract was not extended and he had to vacate his place. Overall, his term of office was rated as a failure, as the game did not develop under him and there were no successes.

In June 2008 the Italian federation announced that Marcello Lippi would again be national coach and lead the team to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . This time the start went better under the new coach and after a draw in the friendly against Austria (2-2) at Lippi's comeback, they celebrated solid successes in qualification group 8 , in which the role of favorites was recognized early on. With the exception of one defeat in the friendly against Brazil , they held themselves harmless until the summer of 2009. In this, however, due to the World Cup victory in 2006, they qualified for the Confederation Cup , in which they narrowly eliminated third in the group after an opening win against the USA (3: 1) and with two defeats against the Egyptians and Brazilians. In the further course of the World Cup qualification, they won three wins and a draw, so that in the end they were sovereign group winners, whereupon a mixed preparation for the World Cup took place: with only one win against Sweden (1-0), one defeat against Mexico (1 : 2) and 3 draws (against the Netherlands , Cameroon and Switzerland ), doubts about a new World Cup triumph increased.

In the World Cup group F , they were considered a sure favorite, only Paraguay were calculated outsider chances. You had to compete against them in the first group game and showed a moderate performance at 1-1, which was additionally weakened by the failure of Gianluigi Buffon after Andrea Pirlo was not available for the first games. In the second game, in which everyone expected a big win, the brave New Zealanders fought their way to a not undeserved 1: 1, which gave them a chance to advance. On the last day of the match everything was open, every team still had a chance for the next round. A win against Slovakia was essential , otherwise you would be eliminated as the defending champion. Lippi trusted a similar team as in the previous games and had to watch Róbert Vittek bring the Slovaks 2-0 up. Ten minutes before the end, Antonio Di Natale succeeded in the connection goal, so that they suddenly played again for the round of 16 , since the other game was 0-0 and so a draw would be enough. Shortly afterwards, the strong Fabio Quagliarella scored a regular goal, but it was disallowed for offside , they opened up and were punished with the 1: 3. Quagliarella was able to shorten with a shot worth seeing, but they lost 2: 3 and were eliminated from the bottom of the group. This was the biggest disappointment of the tournament after the French , who also attracted attention by boycotting their coach Raymond Domenech . As a result, Marcello Lippi announced his resignation and took all guilt upon himself. In addition, captain and record player Fabio Cannavaro ended his national team career after 136 appearances.

After the disastrous World Cup in South Africa and the subsequent resignation of Marcello Lippi , Cesare Prandelli , until then coach of AC Florence , became the new national coach. When he took office, he also introduced an ethics code in which he voluntarily renounced players if they were conspicuous due to assault or verbal abuse. In addition, he visibly rejuvenated the team and introduced an offensive game system (usually a 4-1-3-2) in which combination football is used. His first game as coach of the Azzurri on August 10, 2010 against the Ivory Coast was lost 0-1. Even after that, the performances remained mixed for the time being, for example they only played draws against Northern Ireland and Romania . Only after the 1-1 draw in Dortmund against Germany on February 9, 2011 was an increase in performance to be heard. Ultimately, you could qualify unbeaten and with only two goals conceded for the European Championship. Before the tournament, however, followed three defeats in a row against Uruguay , the USA and Russia .

Shortly before the European Championship , many details from a betting scandal in Italian football became known, so that the police arrived at the training camp shortly before leaving for the European Championship. Strong allegations were made against Domenico Criscito , who was then removed from the squad for the euro by Prandelli . Even Leonardo Bonucci and Gianluigi Buffon to have been stood on suspicion of match-fixing involved, but both traveled with the team to the tournament. After the investigation was over, all of the allegations turned out to be baseless. In the first game of the Azzurri against Spain in Group C they earned a remarkable 1: 1, which was not only dubbed a "treat" by the press, but also attracted attention due to an unusual 3-5-2 system with which the Spaniards didn't get along well. In the second game against Croatia , it was also only 1-1. In the last group game, which had to be won in order to reach the quarter-finals , a 2-0 victory was achieved against Ireland , which secured second place behind Spain due to the simultaneous defeat of Croatia against Spain. In the following quarter-final against England was celebrated getting ahead despite oppressive superiority throughout the entire game until the penalty shoot-out in which the penalty of Andrea Pirlo caused quite a stir. In the semi-finals , thanks to a strong Mario Balotellis , they beat Germany 2-1 , which went into the game as the favorite, for the third time after 1968 and 2000 in a European Championship final. By participating in the finals, they also qualified for the Confed Cup 2013 , as Spain, as the final opponent, was already qualified as world champions. The final was clearly lost 4-0 against a strong Spanish team, which meant that the tournament did not surprise. After the injury of Thiago Mottas, who had just been substituted , you had to act outnumbered for half an hour due to the already exhausted substitution contingent. Nevertheless, the tournament was considered a success for the Italians, because despite the betting scandal and messed up preparation, they were able to forget the bad World Cup two years ago and played convincing, offensive football. Italy, for example, was the only team that played permanently with two strikers , whereas all the other teams bet on one point. In addition, Gianluigi Buffon, Daniele De Rossi , Andrea Pirlo and Mario Balotelli have joined the UEFA All-Star Team .

The Italian team on July 1, 2012 in Kiev before the European Championship final against Spain

After the European Championship, Cesare Prandelli continued his course and continued to play offensively oriented football. A friendly defeat against England was followed by four qualifying games , which they successfully contested despite poor performances with three wins (2-0 against Malta , 3-1 against Armenia , 3-1 against Denmark ) and a draw (2-2 against Bulgaria ) could. The following friendlies against France (1: 2), the Netherlands (1: 1) and Brazil (2: 2) were also rather mixed, which was also due to the fact that Prandelli wanted to try and test a lot in such games. In the qualifying match against Malta that followed, they achieved a lackluster 2-0 win, in which the Maltese did not play badly for a long time. The two test games in preparation for the Confederation Cup against San Marino (4: 0) and Haiti (2: 2) and the qualifying game against the Czech Republic (0: 0) were not particularly glamorous. People came to the Confed Cup as outsiders, as Spain and Brazil entered the tournament as favorites. In addition, the Europeans were said to be at a disadvantage compared to Brazil and Uruguay , as they could deal better with the climatic conditions and the fact that Prandelli wanted to test players for the World Cup . In the first game they beat Mexico 2-1 with a very convincing appearance , in which Andrea Pirlo scored a remarkable free-kick in his 100th international match . The next game against good Japanese things got going: after falling 2-0 down, the team took a 3-2 lead, which was leveled shortly afterwards. Shortly before the end, however , Sebastian Giovinco was able to score the winning goal, so that they could qualify early for the semi- finals. The third group game was very unfortunate: After having to do without Pirlo, both Ignazio Abate and Riccardo Montolivo were injured at the beginning of the game . Nevertheless, for a long time they were able to compete against strong Brazilians who, however, forced the victory and went off as group winners with two Fred goals. Because of that you had to play in the semi-final against Spain, against whom you have played for the fourth time in the last two years. Well prepared for the opponent, you played on counter-chances and earned them, which were not used, so that you had to go to penalties after a goalless game and extra time. All shooters were successful there, only Leonardo Bonucci missed the goal, so that one failed again to Spain. In the heavily criticized game for 3rd place , the Uruguayans were particularly willing to win and competed with the best line-up, while Prandelli rotated. Italy were able to take the lead thanks to two sets from Alessandro Diamanti , which Edinson Cavani was able to equalize. After a strenuous tournament and a dismissal against Montolivo, they saved themselves from penalties. In this Buffon was able to parry three penalty kicks and secure third place.

With six points ahead of the second-placed Danes, the team secured first place in the group and qualified directly for the finals. Before the World Cup, there was a 1-0 loss to Spain in March 2014 , a goalless draw against Ireland and a disappointing 1-1 against Luxembourg . At the 2014 World Cup, the Azzurri were drawn into group D together with two other former world champions, England and Uruguay , as well as the outsider Costa Rica . In their first game against England, the team took the lead on 35 minutes with a goal from Claudio Marchisio and then had to accept an equalizer from Daniel Sturridge two minutes later to score the winner in the person of Balotelli five minutes after the break. In the second game they lost against Costa Rica 1-0 after Bryan Ruiz scored the winning goal for the outsider from Central America shortly before the break . The Central Americans qualified early with this victory while the English were eliminated with the victory of the Costa Ricans. Italy couldn't lose to Uruguay. Even a draw would have been enough to advance. After a boring 45 minutes, the second half was high when Claudio Marchisio was sent off in the 59th minute and Luis Suárez was not punished for his shoulder bite on Giorgio Chiellini . Diego Godín scored the winning goal for Uruguay in the 81st minute and Italy was eliminated for the second time after the group stage after 2010. As a result of the elimination in the preliminary round, Prandelli announced his immediate resignation.

His successor was Antonio Conte , who previously coached Juventus Turin and won the Italian championship three times with this club. His debut was successful when they won 2-0 in Bari against the World Cup third Netherlands . In the European Championship qualification you met Norway , Azerbaijan , Malta , Croatia and Bulgaria . The start was successful when they beat the Norwegians 2-0 through goals from Simone Zaza and Leonardo Bonucci in Oslo and the Azerbaijanis, trained by Berti Vogts , 2-1 in the second game . The year ended with a win against Malta and a 1-1 draw against Croatia at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan .

Ultimately, the Italian team finished their qualifying group as the unbeaten group first and qualified directly for the European Championship finals. There the Squadra Azzurra was drawn together with Belgium , Sweden and Ireland in group E of the preliminary round. Italy managed a 2-0 win against the supposed group favorites from Belgium in the opening game. After a 1-0 win in the second group match against Sweden, the Italian team was already the group winners. The third group game lost Italy, which played with numerous substitutes, 0-1 against Ireland. As in the final four years earlier, they met Spain in the round of 16 . With a 2-0 win, the Azzurri advanced to the quarter-finals, where Italy met Germany , as in the semifinals of 2012 . After the Italian team fell behind in the middle of the second half, they equalized with a penalty kick about ten minutes before the end of the game. No more goals were scored in the remaining regular time or in extra time, so the game went to penalties. While three players on the German side were unable to convert their penalties, four shooters awarded on the Italian side, which eliminated Italy from the tournament. For the first time, an Italian national team lost out in a major tournament against a German national team, albeit on penalties.

After the tournament, Conte resigned as national coach to become coach of Chelsea FC . He was succeeded by Gian Piero Ventura . He made his debut as national coach in the 1: 3 defeat on September 1, 2016 in a friendly in Bari against runner-up European champions France , with the 17-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma coming on in the second half . Five days later, Italy started the preliminary rounds for the 2018 World Cup , where they played in a group with Israel , Spain , Macedonia , Liechtenstein and Albania . With a draw in the top game against Spain and five wins in six games up to June 2017, Italy was tied with Spain second in the table. Due to a defeat in the second leg against the Spaniards, Italy, which won all of the remaining three games, was second behind the Iberians at the end of the qualification and had to play in the relegation games. There they met Sweden . The first leg in Solna ended in a 0-1 defeat, in the second leg in Milan Italy couldn't get past a goalless draw and thus missed a World Cup finals for the first time since 1958 and generally for the first time since not participating in the 1992 European Championship in Sweden a finals. Shortly after the failure, Gianluigi Buffon announced his resignation from the national team. Even Andrea Barzagli and Daniele De Rossi resigned from the national team.

Present (since 2017)

Buffon reversed his decision in February 2018 and was available for the following two test matches against Argentina and England in March 2018 . Under interim coach Luigi Di Biagio followed a 2-0 defeat against Argentina and a 1-1 draw against England. In the early summer of 2018, Buffon announced his final resignation from the national team. Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini was introduced as the new coach of the Italian national team. In the first game under Mancini, Italy achieved a 2-1 friendly win against Saudi Arabia in St. Gallen on May 28, 2018 , before a 3-1 win against eventual world champions France three days later in Nice . Three days later, the Italian national team parted from the Netherlands in Turin with a 1-1 draw. The UEFA Nations League kicked off in September 2018 , with Italy playing in League A in a group with Poland and Portugal. With one defeat, one win and two draws, Italy finished the group in League A in the UEFA Nations League in second place.

In the qualification for the European Championship in 2021 (initially scheduled for 2020) which met Squadra Azzurra in Finland , Liechtenstein , Greece , Bosnia-Herzegovina and Armenia . Italy won the opening game against Finland 2-0, on the second matchday Liechtenstein was defeated 6-0. After the 7th of 10 match days, Italy, which had won every game so far, was confirmed ahead of time as the second permanent participant in the European Championship after Belgium . The Italians were drawn in Group A and will play the opening game against Turkey in Rome .

Balance sheets

successes

competition	title	Year (s)
World Championship	4th	1934 , 1938 , 1982 , 2006
European Championship	1	1968
Olympic Summer Games	1	1936
European Cup of National Football Teams	2	1927-1930 , 1933-1935

World champion teams

Italy - Football World Cup 1934

Allemandi  | Arcari  | Bertolini  | Borel II  | Caligaris  | Castellazzi  | Cavanna  | Combi  | Demaría  | G. Ferrari  | Ferraris IV  | Guaita  | Guarisi  | Masetti  | Meazza  | Monti  | Monzeglio  | Orsi  | Pizziolo  | Rosetta  | Schiavio  | Varglien I Trainer:  Vittorio Pozzo

Italy - Football World Cup 1938

Andreolo  | Bertoni  | Biavati  | Ceresoli  | Chizzo  | Colaussi  | Donati  | G. Ferrari  | Ferraris II  | Foni  | Genta  | Locatelli  | Masetti  | Meazza  | Monzeglio  | Olivieri  | Olmi  | Pasinati  | Perazzolo  | Piola  | Rava  | Serantoni Coach:  Vittorio Pozzo

Italy - Soccer World Cup 1982

1  Zoff  | 2  cash  | 3  Bergomi  | 4  Cabrini  | 5  Collovati  | 6  Gentile  | 7  Scirea  | 8  Vierchowod  | 9  Antognoni  | 10  Dossena  | 11  Marini  | 12  Bordon  | 13  Oriali  | 14  Tardelli  | 15  Causio  | 16  Conti  | 17  Massaro  | 18  Altobelli  | 19  Graziani  | 20   Rossi  | 21  Selvaggi  | 22  Galli Trainer:  Enzo Bearzot

Italy - Football World Cup 2006

1  Buffon  | 2  Zaccardo  | 3  Grosso  | 4  De Rossi  | 5  Cannavaro  | 6  Barzagli  | 7  Del Piero  | 8  Gattuso  | 9  Toni  | 10  Totti  | 11  Gilardino  | 12  Peruzzi  | 13  Nesta  | 14  Amelia  | 15  Iaquinta  | 16  Camoranesi  | 17  barons  | 18  Inzaghi  | 19  Zambrotta  | 20  Perrotta  | 21  Pirlo  | 22  Oddo  | 23  Materazzi coach:  Marcello Lippi

European champions team

Italy - European Football Championship 1968

Albertosi  | Anastasi  | Anquilletti  | Bercellino  | Burgnich  | Bulgarelli  | Càstano  | De Sisti  | Domenghini  | Facchetti  | Ferrini  | Guarneri  | Juliano  | Lodetti  | S. Mazzola  | Prati  | Riva  | Rivera  | Rosato  | Salvadore  | L. Vieri  | Zoff coach:  Ferruccio Valcareggi

Olympic gold team

Italy - 1936 Summer Olympics

Baldo  | Bertoni  | Biagi  | Cappelli  | Froni  | Frossi  | Gabriotti  | Giani  | Girometta  | Giuntoli  | Locatelli  | Marchini  | Negro  | Nicolini  | Petri  | Piccini  | Puppo  | Rava  | Scarabello  | Tamietti  | Vannucci  | Venturini Trainer:  Vittorio Pozzo

Participation of Italy in the soccer world championship

→ Main article : Italian national soccer team / World Cups

Italy has taken part in world championships 18 times and has won the title four times, most recently in Germany in 2006.

year	Venue (s)	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated
1934	Italy	final	Czechoslovakia	01st place	Vittorio Pozzo
1938	France	final	Hungary	01st place	Vittorio Pozzo
1950	Brazil	Preliminary round	Paraguay , Sweden	07th place	Ferruccio Novo	First elimination of a reigning world champion in the preliminary round
1954	Switzerland	Preliminary round	Belgium , England , Switzerland	10th place	Lajos Czeizler	Loss in the playoff against Switzerland
1958	Sweden	not qualified
1962	Chile	Preliminary round	Chile , Germany , Switzerland	09th place	Paolo Mazza	" Battle of Santiago "
1966	England	Preliminary round	Chile , North Korea , USSR	09th place	Edmondo Fabbri
1970	Mexico	final	Brazil	02nd place	Ferruccio Valcareggi	" Century Game "
1974	Germany	Preliminary round	Argentina , Haiti , Poland	10th place	Ferruccio Valcareggi
1978	Argentina	3rd place match	Brazil	04th Place	Enzo Bearzot
1982	Spain	final	Germany	01st place	Enzo Bearzot	Paolo Rossi top scorer
1986	Mexico	Round of 16	France	12th place	Enzo Bearzot
1990	Italy	3rd place match	England	03rd place	Azeglio Vicini	Salvatore Schillaci top scorer
1994	United States	final	Brazil	02nd place	Arrigo Sacchi	Loss in the first penalty shoot-out in a World Cup final
1998	France	Quarter finals	France	05th place	Cesare Maldini
2002	Japan / South Korea	Round of 16	South Korea	15th place	Giovanni Trapattoni	Golden Goal defeat
2006	Germany	final	France	01st place	Marcello Lippi	First win in a World Cup penalty shoot headbutt Zidane against Materazzi
2010	South Africa	Preliminary round	New Zealand , Paraguay , Slovakia	26th place	Marcello Lippi
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	Costa Rica , England , Uruguay	22nd place	Cesare Prandelli
2018	Russia	not qualified				Loss in the play-offs against Sweden

Participation of Italy in the European Football Championship

→ Main article : Italian national soccer team / European championships

Italy took part in the finals of the European Championship eight times. The best results so far were first place in 1968 and second place in 2000 and 2012.

year	Venue (s)	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1960	France	not participated
1964	Spain	not qualified
1968	Italy	final	Yugoslavia	1st place	Ferruccio Valcareggi	Entry into the final with the last coin toss in international competitions, final victory in the replay
1972	Belgium	not qualified
1976	Yugoslavia	not qualified
1980	Italy	3rd place match	Czechoslovakia	4th Place	Enzo Bearzot	Loss in the last European Championship game for 3rd place
1984	France	not qualified				Failed to qualify as world champion
1988	Germany	Semifinals	USSR	-	Azeglio Vicini
1992	Sweden	not qualified
1996	England	Preliminary round	Germany , Russia , Czech Republic	-	Arrigo Sacchi
2000	Belgium / Netherlands	final	France	2nd place	Dino Zoff	Defeat by the last golden goal in EM history
2004	Portugal	Preliminary round	Bulgaria , Denmark , Sweden	-	Giovanni Trapattoni	Tottis spit attack against Poulsen
2008	Austria / Switzerland	Quarter finals	Spain	-	Roberto Donadoni
2012	Poland / Ukraine	final	Spain	2nd place	Cesare Prandelli	Italy was the only team to score a goal against eventual European champions Spain . Highest final defeat in EM history
2016	France	Quarter finals	Germany	-	Antonio Conte
2021	Europe	qualified				Postponement of EM 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic Set in group A with 3 games in Rome

Participation of Italy in the FIFA Confederations Cup

Italy has taken part twice in the FIFA Confederations Cup , which has been held since 1997 : in 2009 as world champions and in 2013 as runner-up European champions, as European champions Spain were already qualified as world champions.

year	Venue (s)	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1997	Saudi Arabia	not qualified
1999	Mexico	not qualified
2001	South Korea / Japan	not qualified
2003	France	not qualified
2005	Germany	not qualified
2009	South Africa	Preliminary round	Egypt , Brazil , USA	-	Marcello Lippi
2013	Brazil	3rd place match	Uruguay	3rd place	Cesare Prandelli
2017	Russia	not qualified

Participation of Italy in the UEFA Nations League

Italy has so far participated in the Nations League once, but was unable to qualify for the final round ( Final Four ).

Years	league	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
2018/19	League A	Group stage	Poland , Portugal	8th place	Roberto Mancini
2020/21	League A					Italy face Bosnia-Herzegovina , the Netherlands and Poland in the group stage .

Participation of Italy in the Olympic Games

Italy has taken part in the Olympic Games, open to senior national teams, six times and won the gold medal once, in 1936.

year	Venue (s)	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1908	London	not participated
1912	Stockholm	Round of 16	Finland	-	Vittorio Pozzo
1920	Antwerp	Quarter finals	France	-	Technical Commission
1924	Paris	Quarter finals	Switzerland	-	Vittorio Pozzo
1928	Amsterdam	3rd place match	Egypt	3rd place	Augusto Rangone
1936	Berlin	final	Austria	1st place	Vittorio Pozzo	Annibale Frossi top scorer
1948	London	Quarter finals	Denmark	-	Vittorio Pozzo

International match records

See also : All international match statistics of the Italian national football team

Italy has the following results against other national teams (at least 10 games; as of November 18, 2019). National teams that no longer exist are shown in italics .

country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Goal difference	Goal difference	Important encounters
Argentina	15th	06th	05	04th	022:15	+ 07	World Cup preliminary round 1974, 1978, 1986, intermediate round 1982, semi-finals 1990
Belgium	22nd	14th	04th	04th	043:24	+19	World Cup preliminary round 1954; European Championship quarter-finals 1972, preliminary round 1980, 2000, 2016
Brazil	16	05	03	08th	023:30	- 07th	World Cup semi-finals 1938, final 1970, 1994, game for 3rd place 1978, intermediate round 1982; Confederations Cup Preliminary Round 2009
Bulgaria	19th	10	07th	02	033:16	+17	World Cup opening game 1986, semi-finals 1994; EM quarter-finals 1968, preliminary round 2004; World Cup qualification 2010, 2014; European Championship qualification 2016
Denmark	13	08th	02	03	024:16	+ 08	Quarter-finals of the 1948 Olympic Games; World Cup qualification 1982, 2014; European Championship preliminary round 1988, 2004
Germany	35	15th	12	08th	050:41	+ 09	World Cup preliminary round 1962, semi-finals 1970 , 2006, intermediate round 1978, final 1982; European Championship opening game 1988, preliminary round 1996, quarter-finals 2016, semi-finals 2012
England	27	10	09	08th	031:33	- 02nd	World Cup game for 3rd place 1990, preliminary round 2014; EM quarter-finals 2012, preliminary round 1980
Finland	15th	12	01	01	036: 08	+28	Round of 16 of the 1912 Olympic Games; World Cup qualification 1966, 1978; European Championship qualification 1976, 2004, 2020
France	39	18th	10	11	082:56	+26	Quarter-finals of the 1920 Olympic Games, round of 16 of the 1928 Olympic Games; World Cup quarter-finals 1938, 1998, preliminary round 1978, round of 16 1986, final 2006; European Championship finals 2000, preliminary round 2008
Greece	11	07th	03	01	022: 06	+16	World Cup qualification 1934, 1982; Euro 2020 qualification
Ireland	14th	08th	03	03	020:10	+10	World Cup quarter-finals 1990, preliminary round 1994; European Championship preliminary round 2012, 2016, qualification 1972
Yugoslavia	17th	08th	05	04th	024:21	+ 03	World Cup qualification 1982; European Championship finals 1968 (2 ×)
Mexico	12	07th	04th	01	028:10	+18	World Cup quarter-finals 1970, preliminary round 1994, 2002, Confederations Poakl preliminary round 2013
Netherlands	21st	09	09	03	028:21	+ 07	World Cup intermediate round 1978; European Championship semi-finals 2000, preliminary round 2008
Norway	17th	10	04th	03	022:13	+ 09	Consolation round of the 1920 Olympic Games, semifinals of the 1936 Olympic Games; World Cup round of 16 1938, 1998, preliminary round 1994; European Championship qualification 1992, 2016
Austria	37	17th	08th	12	049:56	- 07th	Consolation round of the Olympic Games 1912, final of the Olympic Games 1936 (see footnote); World Cup semi-finals 1934, intermediate round 1978, preliminary round 1990, 1998; European Championship qualification 1972
Poland	16	06th	07th	03	021:10	+11	World Cup preliminary round 1974, 1982, semi-finals 1982; European Championship qualification 1976; Nations League group stage 2018
Portugal	27	18th	03	06th	051:23	+28	World Cup qualification 1958, 1994; European Championship qualification 1988; Nations League group stage 2018
Romania	17th	10	05	02	028:14	+14	World Cup qualification 2002; EM quarter-finals 2000, preliminary round 2008
Scotland	11	08th	02	01	019: 04	+15	World Cup qualification in 1966, 1994, 2006; European Championship qualification 2008
Sweden	25th	11	07th	07th	028:25	+ 03	Consolation round of the 1912 Olympic Games; World Cup preliminary round 1950, 1970, play-offs for the 2018 World Cup; EM preliminary round 2000, 2004, 2016
Switzerland	58	28	22nd	08th	107: 67	+40	Quarter-finals of the 1924 Olympic Games; World Cup preliminary round 1954 (2 ×), 1962; European Championship qualification 1968, 1988, 2000
Soviet Union	11	02	05	04th	007: 09	- 02nd	World Cup preliminary round 1966; European Championship round of 16 1964, semi-finals 1968, 1988
Spain	37	11	15th	11	043:40	+ 03	Tournament for 2nd and 3rd place in the 1920 Olympic Games, preliminary round of the 1924 Olympic Games, quarter-finals of the 1928 Olympic Games (2 ×); World Cup quarter-finals 1934 (2 ×), 1994, World Cup qualification 2018; European Championship preliminary round 1980, 1988, 2012, round of 16 2016, quarter-finals 2008, final 2012; Confederations Cup Semi-Finals 2013
Czechoslovakia	26th	09	09	08th	039:38	+ 01	World Cup final 1934, preliminary round 1990; European Championship game for 3rd place in 1980
Turkey	10	07th	03	00	018: 05	+13	World Cup qualification 1974; Euro 2000 preliminary round
Hungary	34	16	09	09	063:56	+ 07	Round of 16 of the 1952 Olympic Games; World Cup final 1938, preliminary round 1978; European Championship qualification 1992
Uruguay	11	03	04th	04th	012:11	+ 01	Semifinals of the 1928 Olympic Games; World Cup preliminary round 1970, 2014, round of 16 1990; Confederations Cup 3rd place match 2013
United States	13	09	03	01	037: 05	+32	Round of 16 of the 1936, 1948 Olympic Games, preliminary round of the 1952 Olympic Games (see footnote); World Cup round of 16 1934, preliminary round 1990, 2006; Confederations Cup Preliminary Round 2009
positive balance (more victories than defeats) balanced balance negative balance (more defeats than victories) 

Notes on the table:

1. ↑ If a game ends after regular playing time or after extra time, it will be rated according to the result; Games decided on penalties count as a draw in the following.
2. ↑ Qualifying matches are only listed in this table if there has not yet been a match in a final round in the relevant competition.
   A detailed list of all competitive games can be found here .
3. ↑ In contrast to FIFA and FIGC, the ÖFB does not evaluate the final of the 1936 Olympic Games as an official international game and lists an international game that was canceled on March 21, 1937 as a victory (see Austrian list). From his point of view, Austria has won against Italy thirteen times, lost only sixteen times and with 57:47 a goal difference better by three goals.
4. ↑ FIGC, FIFA and RSSSF make contradicting statements about Italy's international games against the United States: The match in the preliminary round of the 1952 Olympic Games, which Italy won 8-0, is counted as an official international game by FIGC and is listed in the RSSSF Lists of both countries, but is not considered an A international by FIFA. Italy's 1-0 victory at the 1984 Olympics is only included in the US RSSSF list and is not counted by either FIGC or FIFA. The same applies to a 10-0 win for Italy in an unofficial game from 1975. A special case is the 4-0 win for Italy on May 23, 1976: This game was played as part of a mini-tournament in which England and Brazil also participated. Since the actual national team of the USA was not considered competitive against these opponents, a selection of the US American league, which was also composed of numerous non-Americans (captain of this team was Pelé), came instead. While the Italian Football Association still rated the game as an international match against the USA, FIFA did not list the game at all. It is also only included in the RSSSF list of Italy.

Awards

The Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport chose the national team in 1982 and 2006 as “ World Team of the Year ” and in 1978 as Italy's Sports Team of the Year.

The Italian national soccer team was named “Team of the Year” at the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2007 .

Record player

Record player
Gianluigi Buffon

The ranking lists the players with the most appearances, the most goals and the most appearances as captain of the Italian national team. If the number of games is the same, the players are sorted by surname, and if the number of goals is the same, they are sorted by the higher goal rate.

After missions # Name a b Period Games Gates 01 Gianluigi Buffon 1997-2018 176 00 02 Fabio Cannavaro 1997-2010 136 02 03 Paolo Maldini 1988-2002 126 07th 04th Daniele De Rossi 2004-2017 117 21st 05 Andrea Pirlo 2002-2015 116 13 06th Dino Zoff 1968-1983 112 00 07th Giorgio Chiellini 2004–0000 103 08th 08th Gianluca Zambrotta 1999-2010 098 02 09 Leonardo Bonucci 2010–0000 095 07th 10 Giacinto Facchetti 1963-1977 094 03

After goals # Name a b Period Gates Games Goals / game 01 Luigi Riva 1965-1974 35 42 0.83 02 Giuseppe Meazza 1930-1939 33 53 0.62 03 Silvio Piola 1935-1952 30th 34 0.88 04th Roberto Baggio 1988-2004 27 56 0.48 05 Alessandro Del Piero 1995-2008 27 91 0.30 06th Alessandro Altobelli 1980-1988 25th 47 0.53 07th Adolfo Baloncieri 1920-1930 25th 57 0.44 08th Filippo Inzaghi 1997-2007 25th 61 0.41 09 Christian Vieri 1997-2005 23 49 0.47 10 Francesco Graziani 1975-1983 23 64 0.36

As captain # Name a b Period Games 01 Gianluigi Buffon 1997-2018 80 02 Fabio Cannavaro 1997-2010 79 03 Paolo Maldini 1988-2002 74 04th Giacinto Facchetti 1963-1977 70 05 Dino Zoff 1968-1983 59 06th Giuseppe Bergomi 1982-1998 33 07th Franco Baresi 1982-1994 31 08th Adolfo Baloncieri 1920-1930 27 09 Renzo De Vecchi 1910-1925 26th 10 Giampiero Boniperti 1947-1960 24

^a Players marked in bold are still active in the national team.

^b Players marked in italics are still active, but no longer in the national team.

As of March 23, 2020

Organizational matters

Trainer and function team

Roberto Mancini has been the national team's head coach since 2018.

Nat.	Surname	function
Coaching staff
	Roberto Mancini	Head coach
	Alberico Evani	Assistant coach
	Attilio Lombardo	Assistant coach
	Giulio Nuciari	Assistant coach
	Fausto Salsano	Assistant coach
	Massimo Battara	Goalkeeping coach
	Claudio Donatelli	Athletic trainer
	Andrea Scanavino	Athletic trainer
Sporting management and organization
	Gabriele Oriali	Team manager
	Emiliano Cozzi	secretary
Scouting and game preparation
	Marco Scarpa	Scout
	Antonio Gagliardi	Game analyst
Medical staff
	Carmine Costabile	Team doctor
	Andrea Ferretti	Team doctor
	Maurizio Fagorzi	Physiotherapist
	Luca Lascialfari	Physiotherapist
	Emanuele Randelli	Physiotherapist
	Fabrizio Scalzi	Physiotherapist
	Walter Martinelli	osteopath
	Matteo Pincella	Nutritionist
As of March 24, 2019

Venues

Stadio Olimpico di Roma (2014)

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (2009)

See also : Venues of the Italian national football team  and venues for home games of the Italian national football team

The Italian national team does not play in a national stadium like other nations (e.g. England ) , but always changes the venue and thus the stadium for home games . The respective home venues are selected according to various criteria, such as the importance of the game or the strength of the opponents.

So far, the national team has played in 42 different Italian cities (as of November 18, 2019), most often in Rome (59 games) and Milan (58). Other cities with at least ten events are Turin (39), Genoa (28), Florence (26), Naples (25), Bologna (21), Palermo (15) and Bari (11). The currently largest available stadiums (more than 40,000 seats) are the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan, the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the Stadio San Paolo in Naples, the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence and the Juventus Stadium in Turin.

Italy has hosted four major tournaments so far, namely the World Championships in 1934 and 1990 and the European Championships in 1968 and 1980 , in which a total of two titles (one world and one European championship) as well as third and fourth place were achieved. In addition, Italy is with the Roman Stadio Olimpico one of twelve venues of the continental discharged European Championship 2021 .

Many of the larger stadiums were built or renovated for the 1990 World Cup, so there was no investment in the stadium infrastructure in Italy for a long time. However, there are now a few new buildings, of which the Juventus Stadium, which opened in 2011, was the largest new building to date. In addition, at many locations - including Cagliari , Florence, Milan, Pescara , Pisa , Rome and Venice - new stadiums are under construction, in planning or under discussion, as many venues no longer meet today's standards. In addition, some stadiums were renovated or rebuilt, such as the Stadio Friuli in Udine or the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino in Turin. Modifications of some stadiums are also planned, e.g. B. at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia ( Bergamo ), Stadio San Vito - Gigi Marulla ( Cosenza ), Stadio Carlo Castellani ( Empoli ) or Stadio Renato Dall'Ara (Bologna).

Youth work

See also : Italian national football team (U-21 men)

In order to introduce young and talented players to the senior national team and to bring them closer to the processes and habits, there are several junior national teams in the Italian football system , which is subject to the Italian association . From the age of 14 (U-15) there is a separate youth national team for each age, with the U-21 team receiving special attention. This is because players who are already under contract in professional leagues or who are seen as future pillars of the A-team act in this. For example, the European Championship tournaments in this age group are very important.

Outfitter

The German sporting goods manufacturer Puma has been responsible for the equipment since January 1st, 2003 . This includes game, training and leisure clothing as well as accessories and a variety of possible shoes . Nevertheless, all players can choose their favorite brand in the field of shoes and goalkeeper gloves . This applies to all national teams belonging to the association, including the youth national teams such as the U-21 national team .

Until December 31, 2002, the Italian company Kappa supplied the national team.

Sponsors

The national team does not present advertising partners on the jerseys , but only on training and casual clothing. Among the sponsors and partners include Eni , Giorgio Armani , Ferrero , Fiat , Frecciarossa , Lete , Lidl Italia , Poste Italiane , Puma , Radio Italia , Sixtus , Technogym and Telecom Italia .

Current

In Group J of the qualification for Euro 2020 , Italy met Armenia , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Finland , Greece and Liechtenstein from March to November 2019 . Italy was the first to complete the group, qualifying for Euro 2020, which was moved to 2021.

In Group A1 of the Nations League 2020/21 , Italy will meet Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Netherlands and Poland from September to November 2020 .

In Group A of the EM 2021 , Italy will meet Switzerland , Turkey and Wales in June 2021 .

International matches

→ Main article : List of international matches for the Italian national football team

The games of the last twelve months as well as all scheduled matches are listed. The results are presented from an Italian perspective (as of July 21, 2020).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , all friendlies planned from March to June 2020 (against England , Germany , San Marino and the Czech Republic ) have been canceled. The European Championship games were postponed from June / July 2020 to June / July 2021.

date	Venue	opponent	Result	occasion	Goal scorers
05th Sep 2019	Yerevan ( ARM )	Armenia	3: 1 (1: 1)	Qualification EM 2021	Karapetjan (11th), Belotti (28th), Pellegrini (77th), Ayrapetyan (80./ ET )
08 Sep 2019	Tampere ( FIN )	Finland	2: 1 (0: 0)	Qualification EM 2021	Immobile (59.), Pukki (72./ FE ), Jorginho (79./ HE )
Oct 12, 2019	Rome	Greece	2: 0 (0: 0)	Qualification EM 2021	Jorginho (63./ HE ), Bernardeschi (78.)
Oct 15, 2019	Vaduz ( LIE )	Liechtenstein	5: 0 (1: 0)	Qualification EM 2021	Bernardeschi (2nd), Belotti (70th, 90th + 2 '), Romagnoli (77th), El Shaarawy (82nd)
Nov 15, 2019	Zenica ( BIH )	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3: 0 (2: 0)	Qualification EM 2021	Acerbi (21st), Insigne (37th), Belotti (52nd)
Nov 18, 2019	Palermo	Armenia	9: 1 (4: 0)	Qualification EM 2021	Immobile (8th, 33rd), Zaniolo (9th, 64th), Barella (29th), Romagnoli (72nd), Jorginho (75th / FE ), Orsolini (77th), Babayan (79th), Chiesa (81.)
04th Sep 2020	Florence	Bosnia and Herzegovina		Nations League 2020/21
0Sep 7 2020	Amsterdam ( NLD )	Netherlands		Nations League 2020/21
0Oct 7, 2020	Parma	Moldova		Friendly match
Oct 11, 2020	Gdansk ( POL )	Poland		Nations League 2020/21
Oct 14, 2020	Milan	Netherlands		Nations League 2020/21
Nov 11, 2020	Benevento	Estonia		Friendly match
Nov 15, 2020	Rome	Poland		Nations League 2020/21
Nov 18, 2020	( BIH )	Bosnia and Herzegovina		Nations League 2020/21
June 11, 2021	Rome	Turkey		Preliminary round EM 2021
June 16, 2021	Rome	Switzerland		Preliminary round EM 2021
June 20, 2021	Rome	Wales		Preliminary round EM 2021
Italian team win - draw - Italian team lost

Current squad

On November 8, 2019, the Italian Football Association announced Roberto Mancini's 29-player squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina on November 15 in Zenica and Armenia on October 18 in Palermo (status: November 18, 2019). Andrea Cistana ( Brescia Calcio ), Gaetano Castrovilli ( Fiorentina ) and Riccardo Orsolini ( FC Bologna ) are in the squad for the first time, while Rolando Mandragora ( Udinese Calcio ) returns after more than a year. Mancini had to do without the injured Alessio Cragno , Leonardo Pavoletti (both Cagliari Calcio ), Mattia Perin , Giorgio Chiellini (both Juventus Turin ), Cristiano Piccini ( Valencia CF ) and Bryan Cristante and Lorenzo Pellegrini (both AS Roma ). After the short-term failures of Leonardo Spinazzola (AS Roma), Marco Verratti ( Paris Saint-Germain ) and Domenico Berardi ( US Sassuolo Calcio ), Sandro Tonali (Brescia Calcio) was nominated.

Surname	Date of birth	society	Games	Gates	debut	Last use
Gianluigi Donnarumma	Feb 25, 1999	AC Milan	016	00	0Sep 1 2016, against France	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pierluigi Gollini	18 Mar 1995	Atalanta Bergamo	001	00	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alex Meret	22 Mar 1997	SSC Naples	001	00	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Salvatore Sirigu	Jan. 12, 1987	Torino FC	024	00	10 Aug 2010, against Ivory Coast	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Francesco Acerbi	Feb 10, 1988	Lazio Rome	006th	01	18 Nov 2014, against Albania	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cristiano Biraghi	0Sep 1 1992	Inter Milan	008th	01	May 31, 2017, against San Marino	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Leonardo Bonucci	0May 1, 1987	Juventus Turin	095	07th	03rd Mar 2010, against Cameroon	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Andrea Cistana	0Apr 1, 1997	Brescia Calcio	000	00
Giovanni Di Lorenzo	0Aug 4, 1993	SSC Naples	002	00	October 15, 2019, against Liechtenstein	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Emerson	0Aug 3, 1994	Chelsea FC	007th	00	Sep 10 2018, against Portugal	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alessandro Florenzi	11th Mar 1991	AS Roma	035	02	November 14, 2012, against France	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Armando Izzo	02nd Mar 1992	Torino FC	003	00	26th Mar 2019, against Liechtenstein	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Gianluca Mancini	Apr 17, 1996	AS Roma	003	00	26th Mar 2019, against Liechtenstein	October 15, 2019, against Liechtenstein
Alessio Romagnoli	Jan. 12, 1995	AC Milan	012	02	06 Oct 2016, against Spain	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Nicolò Barella	0Feb 7, 1997	Inter Milan	012	03	Oct. 10, 2018, against Ukraine	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Gaetano Castrovilli	Feb. 17, 1997	AC Florence	001	00	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Jorginho	Dec 20, 1991	Chelsea FC	022nd	04th	24 Mar 2016, against Spain	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Rolando Mandragora	June 29, 1997	Udinese Calcio	001	00	0June 1, 2018, against France	0June 1, 2018, against France
Sandro Tonali	0May 8, 2000	Brescia Calcio	003	00	October 15, 2019, against Liechtenstein	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Nicolò Zaniolo	0July 2, 1999	AS Roma	005	02	23 Mar 2019, against Finland	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Andrea Belotti	Dec 20, 1993	Torino FC	027	09	0Sep 1 2016, against France	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Federico Bernardeschi	Feb 16, 1994	Juventus Turin	024	04th	24 Mar 2016, against Spain	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Federico Chiesa	Oct 25, 1997	AC Florence	018th	01	May 31, 2017, against San Marino	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Stephan El Shaarawy	Oct 27, 1992	Shanghai Shenhua	025th	04th	15 Aug 2012, versus England	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ciro Immobile	Feb. 20, 1990	Lazio Rome	039	10	05th Mar 2014, against Spain	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Lorenzo Insigne	04th June 1991	SSC Naples	034	07th	Sep 11 2012, against Malta	15 Nov 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Riccardo Orsolini	Jan. 24, 1997	Bologna FC	001	01	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia	18 Nov 2019, against Armenia
Goalkeeper - defender - midfielder - striker

Extended squad

The extended squad includes all players who have been appointed to the national team within the last twelve months. (As of November 11, 2019)

Surname	Date of birth	society	Games	Gates	debut	Last use	Last nomination
Alessio Cragno	June 28, 1994	Cagliari Calcio	000	00			May 27, 2019
Antonio Mirante	0July 8, 1983	AS Roma	000	00			May 27, 2019
Mattia Perin	Nov 10, 1992	Juventus Turin	002	00	18 Nov 2014, against Albania	0June 4, 2018, against the Netherlands	15th Mar 2019
Giorgio Chiellini	Aug 14, 1984	Juventus Turin	103	08th	17 Nov 2004, against Finland	June 11, 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina	30 Aug 2019
Danilo D'Ambrosio	0Sep 9 1988	Inter Milan	004th	00	28 Mar 2017, against the Netherlands	October 12, 2019, against Greece	04th Oct 2019
Mattia De Sciglio	Oct. 20, 1992	Juventus Turin	039	00	21 Mar 2013, against Brazil	June 11, 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina	30 Aug 2019
Luca Pellegrini	07th Mar 1999	Cagliari Calcio	000	00			30 Aug 2019
Cristiano Piccini	26 Sep 1992	Valencia CF	003	00	Oct. 10, 2018, against Ukraine	23 Mar 2019, against Finland	15th Mar 2019
Leonardo Spinazzola	25th Mar 1993	AS Roma	008th	00	28 Mar 2017, against the Netherlands	October 12, 2019, against Greece	0Nov 8, 2019
Bryan Cristante	03rd Mar 1995	AS Roma	007th	00	06 Oct 2017, against North Macedonia	October 15, 2019, against Liechtenstein	04th Oct 2019
Lorenzo Pellegrini	June 19, 1996	AS Roma	013	01	May 31, 2017, against San Marino	08 Sep 2019, against Finland	30 Aug 2019
Stefano Sensi	0Aug 5, 1995	Inter Milan	004th	01	November 20, 2018, against the USA	08 Sep 2019, against Finland	04th Oct 2019
Marco Verratti	0Nov 5, 1992	Paris Saint-Germain	036	03	15 Aug 2012, versus England	October 15, 2019, against Liechtenstein	0Nov 8, 2019
Domenico Berardi	0Aug 1, 1994	US Sassuolo Calcio	006th	00	May 31, 2017, against San Marino	November 20, 2018, against the USA	0Nov 8, 2019
Vincenzo Grifo	0Apr 7, 1993	Sc freiburg	002	00	November 20, 2018, against the USA	October 15, 2019, against Liechtenstein	04th Oct 2019
Moise Kean	Feb 28, 2000	Everton FC	003	02	November 20, 2018, against the USA	26th Mar 2019, against Liechtenstein	May 27, 2019
Kevin Lasagna	Aug 10, 1992	Udinese Calcio	004th	00	October 14, 2018, against Poland	05th Sep 2019, against Armenia	30 Aug 2019
Leonardo Pavoletti	Nov. 26, 1988	Cagliari Calcio	001	01	26th Mar 2019, against Liechtenstein	26th Mar 2019, against Liechtenstein	May 27, 2019
Matteo Politano	0Aug 3, 1993	Inter Milan	004th	02	May 31, 2017, against San Marino	26th Mar 2019, against Liechtenstein	May 27, 2019
Fabio Quagliarella	Jan. 31, 1983	Sampdoria Genoa	028	09	28 Mar 2007, against Scotland	June 11, 2019, against Bosnia and Herzegovina	May 27, 2019
Goalkeeper - defender - midfielder - striker

National coach or team leader

Surname	Period	Games	S 1	U 1	N 1	Gates	difference	Point 2	Point quota 2	Win rate 1	image	Tournaments (finals)	successes
Technical Commission Sports Management: Umberto Meazza	1910-1912	07th	01	02	04th	014: 020	- 006	005	0.71	14.29%
Vittorio Pozzo	1912	03	01	00	02	004: 008	- 004th	003	1.00	33.33%		Olympia 1912
Technical Commission Sports Management: Various	1912-1924	30th	12	10	08th	048: 048	± 000	046	1.53	40.00%		Olympia 1920
Vittorio Pozzo	1924	05	02	01	02	005: 009	- 004th	007th	1.40	40.00%		Olympia 1924
Technical Commission Sports Management: Guido Baccani , Giuseppe Milano & Augusto Rangone	1924-1925	06th	02	01	03	011: 006	+ 005	007th	1.17	33.33%
Augusto Rangone	1925-1928	24	12	07th	05	068: 045	+ 023	043	1.79	50.00%		Olympia 1928	Olympic third in 1928
Carlo Carcano	1928-1929	06th	03	01	02	013: 013	± 000	010	1.67	50.00%
Vittorio Pozzo	1929-1948	87	60	16	11	224: 110	+114	196	2.25	68.97%		WM 1934 , 1938 Olympics 1936 , 1948	World Champion 1934 Olympic Champion 1936 World Champion 1938
Technical Commission Sports Management: Various	1949-1959	54	23	13	18th	092: 065	+ 027	082	1.52	42.59%		World Cup 1950 Olympics 1952
Giuseppe Viani	1960	02	01	00	01	004: 003	+ 001	003	1.50	50.00%
Giovanni Ferrari	1960-1961	06th	04th	00	02	020: 010	+ 010	012	2.00	66.67%
Technical Commission Sports Management: Giovanni Ferrari & Paolo Mazza	1962	05	03	01	01	008: 004	+ 004	010	2.00	60.00%		World Cup 1962
Edmondo Fabbri	1962-1966	29	18th	06th	05	063: 018	+ 045	060	2.07	62.07%		World Cup 1966
Technical Commission Sports Management: Helenio Herrera & Ferruccio Valcareggi	1966-1967	04th	03	01	00	007: 002	+ 005	010	2.50	75.00%
Ferruccio Valcareggi	1967-1974	54	28	20th	06th	096: 043	+ 053	104	1.93	51.85%		1970 World Cup , 1974 Euro 1968	European champion 1968, vice world champion 1970
Fulvio Bernardini	1974-1975	06th	01	02	03	002: 005	- 003	005	0.83	16.67%
Technical Commission Sports Management: Enzo Bearzot & Fulvio Bernardini	1975-1977	16	011	02	03	034: 016	+ 018	035	2.19	68.75%
Enzo Bearzot	1977-1986	88	40	26th	22nd	115: 084	+ 031	146	1.66	45.45%		World Cup 1978 , 1982 , 1986, European Championship 1980	World Cup fourth 1978, European fourth 1980 World Champion 1982
Azeglio Vicini	1986-1991	54	32	15th	07th	076: 024	+ 052	111	2.06	59.26%		1990 World Cup, 1988 European Championship	EC semi-finalist in 1988, third in 1990
Arrigo Sacchi	1991-1996	53	34	11	08th	090: 036	+ 054	113	2.13	64.15%		1994 World Cup, 1996 European Championship	Vice World Champion 1994
Cesare Maldini	1996-1998	20th	10	08th	02	030: 013	+ 017	038	1.90	50.00%		World Cup 1998
Dino Zoff	1998-2000	23	11	07th	05	034: 019	+ 015	040	1.74	47.83%		EM 2000	Vice European Champion 2000
Giovanni Trapattoni	2000-2004	44	25th	12	07th	068: 030	+ 038	087	1.98	56.82%		World Cup 2002, EM 2004
Marcello Lippi	2004-2006	29	17th	10	02	045: 019	+ 026	061	2.10	58.62%		World Cup 2006	World Champion 2006
Roberto Donadoni	2006-2008	23	13	05	05	035: 022	+ 013	044	1.91	56.52%		EM 2008
Marcello Lippi	2008-2010	27	11	11	05	038: 028	+ 010	044	1.63	40.74%		World Cup 2010 Confed Cup 2009
Cesare Prandelli	2010-2014	56	23	20th	13	079: 058	+ 021	089	1.59	41.07%		World Cup 2014, EM 2012 Confed Cup 2013	Vice European Champion 2012, Confederation Cup third in 2013
Antonio Conte	2014-2016	25th	14th	07th	04th	034: 021	+ 013	049	1.96	56.00%		EM 2016
Gian Piero Ventura	2016-2017	17th	10	04th	03	035: 013	+ 022	034	2.00	58.82%
Luigi Di Biagio (interim)	2018	02	00	01	01	001: 003	- 002nd	000	0.50	00.00%
Roberto Mancini	2018–0000	19th	13	04th	02	045: 012	+ 033	043	2.26	68.42%
As of November 18, 2019

¹ Games that are decided on penalties are entered in the statistics as a draw.

² The 3-point rule applies to the point calculation .

Team captains

This list names all of the designated captains of the Italian national team. The period indicates when the players were designated captain, but the number of games as captain includes games as deputy captain. This does not apply to games in which the captain's armband was taken over during a game. Players who were deputy but never appointed captain in individual games are not listed.

Surname	Period national players	Period as a captain	International matches	International games as captain	Quota	image	Tournaments (finals) as captain *
Francesco Calì	1910	1910	002	02	100.0%
Giuseppe Milano	1911-1914	1911-1914	011	11	100.0%		Olympia 1912
Virgilio Fossati	1910-1915	1914-1915	012	06th	050.0%
Renzo De Vecchi	1910-1925	1920-1925	043	26th	060.5%		Olympia 1920 , 1924
Luigi Cevenini	1915-1929	1925-1927	029	07th	024.1%
Adolfo Baloncieri	1920-1930	1927-1930	047	27	057.4%		Olympia 1928 Cup 1927–30
Umberto Caligaris	1922-1934	1931 1933-1934	059	06 10	027.1%		E'pokal 1931-32 , 1933-35
Virginio Rosetta	1920-1934	1931-1933	052	08th	015.4%		WM 1934 Cup 1931–32
Gianpiero Combi	1924-1934	1934	047	05	010.6%
Attilio Ferraris	1926-1935	1934-1935	028	03	010.7%
Luigi Allemandi	1925-1936	1935-1936	024	09	037.5%		E'pokal 1933-35
Giuseppe Meazza	1930-1939	1937-1939	053	17th	032.1%		WM 1938
Silvio Piola	1935-1952	1940-1947	034	09	026.5%
Valentino Mazzola	1942-1949	1947-1949	012	05	041.7%
Riccardo Carapellese	1947-1956	1949-1950	016	07th	043.8%		WM 1950 E'pokal 1948–53
Carlo Annovazzi	1947-1952	1951-1952	017th	06th	035.3%		E'pokal 1948-53
Giampiero Boniperti	1947-1960	1952-1960	038	24	063.2%		WM 1954 Cup 1948–53 , 1955–60
Lorenzo Buffon	1958–1962	1961–1962	015th	06th	040.0%		World Cup 1962
Cesare Maldini	1960-1963	1962-1963	014th	06th	042.9%
Sandro Salvadore	1960-1970	1963-1966	036	17th	047.2%		World Cup 1966
Giacinto Facchetti	1963-1977	1966-1977	094	70	074.5%		1970 World Cup , 1974 Euro 1968
Dino Zoff	1968-1983	1977-1983	112	59	052.7%		World Cup 1978 , 1982 European Championship 1980
Marco Tardelli	1976-1985	1983-1985	081	09	011.1%
Gaetano Scirea	1975-1986	1985-1986	078	10	012.8%		World Cup 1986
Antonio Cabrini	1978-1987	1986-1987	073	10	013.1%
Alessandro Altobelli	1980-1988	1987-1988	061	08th	013.7%		EM 1988
Giuseppe Bergomi	1982-1998	1988-1991	081	33	040.7%		World Cup 1990
Franco Baresi	1982-1994	1991-1994	081	31	038.3%		World Cup 1994
Paolo Maldini	1988-2002	1994-2002	126	74	058.7%		1998 World Cup , 2002 European Championship 1996 , 2000
Fabio Cannavaro	1997-2010	2002-2010	136	79	058.1%		World Cup 2006 , 2010 EM 2004 Confed Cup 2009
Gianluigi Buffon	1997-2018	2010-2018	176	80	45.5%		World Cup 2014, EM 2012 , 2016 Confed Cup 2013
Giorgio Chiellini	2004–0000	2018–0000	103	10	009.7%
As of November 18, 2019

^* For the European Cup of the national soccer teams there are sometimes several players as captains, as the tournaments stretched over a longer period and some players were no longer captains before the end.

See also

• Soccer in Italy
• Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
• List of international matches for the Italian national football team
• List of Italian national soccer players
• Italian women's national soccer team
• List of national football teams (men)
• German-Italian football rivalry

Web links

Commons : Italy national soccer team  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Italian Football Association website (Italian, English)
• The Italian national team on FIFA.com
• The Italian national team on UEFA.com
• The Italian national team on Transfermarkt.de
• RSSSF archive of international results
• Statistics and information about the Italian national team
• All games against the German national team at a glance

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 . 
2. ↑ figc.it - ​​Storia ( Memento of the original of July 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ vivoazzurro.it - ​​15 maggio 1910: l'esordio della Nazionale
4. ↑ fifa.com - “Squadra Azzurra” celebrates its first triumph
5. ↑ fifa.com - Italy defend the title
6. ↑ fifa.com - Vittorio Pozzo: An "old master" who shaped Italian football
7. ↑ fifa.com - Olympic football tournament Berlin 1936
8. ↑ uefa.com - Riva leads Italy to European Championship title
9. ↑ fifa.com - Rossi shoots Italy to their third world title
10. ↑ fifa.com - Germany wins friends, Italy the title
11. ↑ uefa.com - Trezeguets golden moment
12. ↑ figc.it - ​​Il Centro Tecnico Federale ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} rsssf.com - Italian National Team Coaches
14. ↑ Almannacco illustrato del Calcio 2010, Modena 2009, ISSN  1129-3381 , p. 586.
15. ↑ dfb.de - Germany versus Italy 1970: The Game of the Century , accessed on September 13, 2015.
16. ↑ spox.com - DFB team is the favorite in the EM semi-finals , accessed on September 13, 2015.
17. ↑ vivoazzurro.it - ​​Prandelli: “Mi dimetto. E 'mia la responsabilità del fallimento del progetto tecnico ”, accessed on September 13, 2015
18. ^ Jom: Lopetegui off to a good start - France wins in Bari. In: kicker online. Olympia Verlag GmbH, September 1, 2016, accessed on May 17, 2017 . 
19. ↑ Banega and Lanzini overcome returnees Buffon , kicker online, accessed on August 30, 2018
20. ↑ A flash of thought with Vardy, video evidence and Insigne-Tor , kicker online, accessed on August 30, 2018
21. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2010 (PDF file; 195 kB)
22. ^ Classifica Marcatori. In: figc.it. FIGC , accessed March 23, 2020 (Italian). 
23. ↑ Capitani. In: figc.it. FIGC , accessed March 23, 2020 (Italian). 
24. ↑ Staff. In: figc.it. FIGC , accessed March 24, 2020 (Italian). 
25. ↑ puma.com - PUMA and the Italian Football Association expand their strategic partnership , accessed on September 13, 2015.
26. ↑ figc.it - ​​partner , accessed on November 18, 2018.
27. ↑ Games. In: soccerway.com. Perform Group , accessed July 21, 2020 . 
28. ↑ Ventinove convocati per le gare con Bosnia e Armenia: Cistana, Castrovilli e Orsolini le novità di Mancini. In: figc.it. FIGC , November 8, 2019, accessed November 8, 2019 (Italian). 
29. ↑ A Coverciano inizia oggi la preparazione per le due gare con Bosnia e Armenia. In: figc.it. FIGC , November 11, 2019, accessed November 11, 2019 (Italian).