What makes the Italy National Football Team so special and remarkable?

The Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), the country’s football regulator, oversees the Italy national soccer squad, which is the country’s official association soccer team. Throughout Italy, many stadiums host Italy’s home games.

With four titles won in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006, Italy is one of the most successful national football teams in World Cup history. Also, Italy won the European Tournament in 1968. The group is called gli Azzurri (the Blues).

The country has recently enjoyed a comeback under Roberto Mancini after previously failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Under Mancini, Italy won their second European Championship in the 2020 tournament and finished first in the UEFA Nations League A 2020-21 Group and had a flawless record in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.

Italy was unbeaten in 34 matches in July 2021; their last loss was to Portugal in a UEFA Nations League tie.

National Team History

Cheering for the Italian country squad has always been a symbol of unity for an entire country, but not everyone knows when the team was born and the growth path it followed over the years.
On May 15, 1910, the Italian men’s soccer team played the first match in its history, at the Civic Arena in Milan competing against France.

At that historical moment, some teams had already been founded: Genoa had existed for seventeen years, Juventus for thirteen years and Milan for eleven. The Italian Football Federation was established in Turin in 1898.

In the approximately ten years which passed between the creation of the FIGC and the first game of its national squad, football spread throughout the country: among others, Lazio, Turin, Palermo, Hellas Verona, Bologna and Inter were founded, which in 1910 he won his first Scudetto.

In January of the same year, the president of the federation Luigi Bosisio officially formed the Italian team, the creation of which was delegated to the referees, then considered the most expert connoisseurs of the game.

Competitive record and honors

Here’s the list of squad victories throughout the years of the existence of the team:

  • 4 world football championships (FIFA World Cup): 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
  • 2 european football championships (UEFA European Championship): 1968, 2021 (Euro 2020)
  • 2 olympic medals: 1928 (bronze), 1936 (gold)

Results and calendar for 2022-2023

During this international break, Roberto Mancini presided over victories over Hungary (2-0) and England (1-0), but the 57-year-old will not be able to test his side against Qatar’s best.

Italy was forced into the playoff system as they could only place second in Group C behind Switzerland. With all due respect, North Macedonia seemed to be a beatable opponent.

Unfortunately, the likes of Marco Verratti and Giorgio Chiellini were unable to motivate their teams to victory, and North Macedonia were ultimately denied the chance to advance when Portugal defeated them 2-0 in the playoff final.

For a country of this size and caliber, Italy’s failure to qualify for three consecutive World Cups would be totally unacceptable.

Here is the full football schedule and group standings:

Date Match Result
June 4, 2022 Italy-Germany  1-1
June 7, 2022 Italy-Hungary  2-1
June 11, 2022 England-Italy  0-0
June 14, 2022 Germany-Italy  5-2
September 23, 2022 Italy-England  1-0
September 26, 2022 Hungary-Italy 0-2
November 16, 2022 Albania-Italy
November 20, 2022 Austria-Italy

 

Players and coaches

Here is the official list of football players for 2022-2023 season:

Position Players:
Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno

Gianluigi Donnarumma

Pierluigi Gollini

Alex Meret

Ivan Provedel

Salvatore Sirigu

Guglielmo Vicario
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi

Alessandro Bastoni

Cristiano Biraghi

Leonardo Bonucci

Davide Calabria

Giorgio Chiellini

Giovanni Di Lorenzo

Federico Dimarco

Alessandro Florenzi

Federico Gatti

Luiz Felipe

Gianluca Mancini

Pasquale Mazzocchi

Giorgio Scalvini

Leonardo Spinazzola

Rafael Tolói
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella

Federico Bernardeschi

Bryan Cristante

Salvatore Esposito

Davide Frattesi

Vincenzo Grifo

Jorginho

Manuel Lazzari

Manuel Locatelli

Lorenzo Pellegrini

Matteo Pessina

Tommaso Pobega

Samuele Ricci

Sandro Tonali

Marco Verratti

Mattia Zaccagni

Alessio Zerbin
Forwards: Andrea Belotti

Matteo Cancellieri

Gianluca Caprari

Manolo Gabbiadini

Wilfried Gnonto

Ciro Immobile

Lorenzo Insigne

Moise Kean

Matteo Politano

Giacomo Raspadori

Gianluca Scamacca

 

Coaching staff

Here’s the official coaching staff for 2022-2023 season:

Head Coach Roberto Mancini
Assistant Coaches Alberico Evani

Attilio Lombardo
Goalkeeping Coach Massimo Battara
Technical Coaches Giulio Nuciari

Fausto Salsano
Athletic Coaches Andrea Scanavino

Claudio Donatelli
Team Manager Gabriele Oriali

 

Wrapping the article up

To date, only two countries in the world, Brazil and Germany, have won as much as Italy. This country is rightfully considered one of the best in the world for its technique and style.

Let’s see how it’ll turn out in the future.