Italy at the World Cup.
The story
Italy won back-to-back titles in 1934 and 1938 under Vittorio Pozzo — the only manager to win two World Cups. After a 44-year drought, Paolo Rossi's redemption tournament in 1982 (Golden Ball + Golden Boot + the title) is one of the great sporting stories. 2006 in Germany was Marcello Lippi's team: a defensive masterclass, Buffon's Golden Glove, Materazzi's final equalizer, Zidane's headbutt, and a penalty shootout win in Berlin. Despite this success, Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments — the only nation to win four WCs and then miss two consecutive editions.
Famous Italy players
Giuseppe Meazza · Paolo Rossi · Roberto Baggio · Paolo Maldini · Gianluigi Buffon · Andrea Pirlo · Fabio Cannavaro.
See our full top-20 World Cup legends list for tournament-by-tournament impact.
Italy in 2026
For Italy's 2026 World Cup campaign — group, fixtures, results — see our World Cup 2026 hub, the group standings and the match schedule.
More from the World Cup category
- → World Cup category index
- → World Cup 2026 — live hub
- → All-time top scorers
- → Country rankings — all-time medals
- → Finals history (1930-2022)
- → Golden Ball winners
- → Golden Glove winners
- → World Cup records
- → Famous supporter groups
- → Player legends — top 20
- → Country histories (Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, France, Uruguay, Spain, England)