The Italian national football team, also known as the Azzurri, represent Italy in men's international football competition. They play their home games at various venues across the country including the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the San Siro in Milan, and the Juventus Stadium in Turin.
Italy Football Team History
The team played its first match in 1910, defeating neighbouring France 6-2, although attempts to create an Italian national team had been ongoing since 1899. That early success was a sign of things to come, as only a few nations can rival Italy's success on the pitch since.
Having declined to participate in the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930, the Azzurri won the following 2 editions of it in 1934 and 1938, the first of which they hosted, either side of a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Italy struggled in the post-war era after the Superga air disaster in 1949, which killed the entire Torino FC team including 10 of Italy's starting 11 players. The impact of this loss was felt for almost 2 decades with first-round exits at the 1950, 1954, and 1962 tournaments, while they failed to qualify for 1958 entirely.
By 1966, the Azzurri had returned to the top of the game and were favourites to win the World Cup that year, only to suffer a catastrophic upset at the hands of North Korea. They returned to winning ways just 2 years later, however, lifting the UEFA European Championship for the first time, before reaching the final of the 1970 World Cup.
Further World Cup glory came again in 1982 and in 2006, with the latter infamously coming after Zinedine Zidane's headbutt of Marco Materazzi in the final. They've enjoyed mixed success in recent times, with another Euro title coming in 2021in between failures to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
