Italy at the FIFA World Cup

This is a record of Italy's results at the FIFA World Cup. Italy is one of the most successful national teams in the history of the World Cup, having won four titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. The team was present in 18 out of the 22 tournaments, reaching six finals, a third place and a fourth place.

  Champions    Runners-up    Third Place    Fourth Place  

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter
1934	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	12	3
1938			4	4	0	0	11	5
1950	Group stage	7th	2	1	0	1	4	3
1954		10th	3	1	0	2	6	7
1958	Did not qualify
1962	Group stage	9th	3	1	1	1	3	2
1966		9th	3	1	0	2	2	2
1970	Runners-up	2nd	6	3	2	1	10	8
1974	Group stage	10th	3	1	1	1	5	4
1978	Fourth place	4th	7	4	1	2	9	6
1982	Champions	1st	7	4	3	0	12	6
1986	Round of 16	12th	4	1	2	1	5	6
1990	Third place	3rd	7	6	1	0	10	2
1994	Runners-up	2nd	7	4	2	1	8	5
1998	Quarter-finals	5th	5	3	2	0	8	3
2002	Round of 16	15th	4	1	1	2	5	5
2006	Champions	1st	7	5	2	0	12	2
2010	Group stage	26th	3	0	2	1	4	5
2014		22nd	3	1	0	2	2	3
2018	Did not qualify
2022
2026	To be determined
2030
2034
Total	4 Titles	18/22	83	45	21	17	128	77

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out

Italy's World Cup record
First Match	Italy 7–1 United States  (27 May 1934; Rome, Italy)
Biggest Win	Italy 7–1 United States  (27 May 1934; Rome, Italy)
Biggest Defeat	Switzerland 4–1 Italy  (23 June 1954; Basel, Switzerland)  Brazil 4–1 Italy  (21 June 1970; Mexico City, Mexico)
Best Result	Champions in 1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006
Worst Result	Group stage in 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1974, 2010 and 2014

Year	Manager	Captain	Italy scorers
1934	Vittorio Pozzo	Gianpiero Combi	Raimundo Orsi, Angelo Schiavio
1938	Vittorio Pozzo	Giuseppe Meazza	Gino Colaussi (2), Silvio Piola (2)
1970	Ferruccio Valcareggi	Giacinto Facchetti	Roberto Boninsegna
1982	Enzo Bearzot	Dino Zoff	Paolo Rossi, Marco Tardelli, Alessandro Altobelli
1994	Arrigo Sacchi	Franco Baresi	–
2006	Marcello Lippi	Fabio Cannavaro	Marco Materazzi

Italy's score listed first.

World Cup	Round	Opponent	Score	Venue	Italy scorers
1934	Round of 16	United States	7–1	Rome	Schiavio (3), Orsi (2), Ferrari, Meazza
	Quarter-finals	Spain	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Florence	Ferrari
		Spain	1–0	Florence	Meazza
	Semi-finals	Austria	1–0	Milan	Guaita
	Final	Czechoslovakia	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Rome	Orsi, Schiavio
1938	Round of 16	Norway	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Marseille	Ferraris, Piola
	Quarter-finals	France	3–1	Paris	Piola (2), Colaussi
	Semi-finals	Brazil	2–1	Marseille	Colaussi, Meazza
	Final	Hungary	4–2	Paris	Colaussi (2), Piola (2)
1950	Group 3	Sweden	2–3	São Paulo	Carapellese, Muccinelli
		Paraguay	2–0	São Paulo	Carapellese, Pandolfini
1954	Group 4	Switzerland	1–2	Lausanne	Boniperti
		Belgium	4–1	Lugano	Pandolfini, Galli, Frignani, Lorenzi
	Play-off	Switzerland	1–4	Basel	Nesti
1962	Group 2	West Germany	0–0	Santiago	—
		Chile	0–2	Santiago	—
		Switzerland	3–0	Santiago	Bulgarelli (2), Mora
1966	Group 4	Chile	2–0	Sunderland	A. Mazzola, Barison
		Soviet Union	0–1	Sunderland	—
		North Korea	0–1	Middlesbrough	—
1970	Group 2	Sweden	1–0	Toluca	Domenghini
		Uruguay	0–0	Puebla	—
		Israel	0–0	Toluca	—
	Quarter-finals	Mexico	4–1	Toluca	Riva (2), Guzmán (o.g.), Rivera
	Semi-finals	West Germany	4–3 (a.e.t.)	Mexico City	Boninsegna, Burgnich, Riva, Rivera
	Final	Brazil	1–4	Mexico City	Boninsegna
1974	Group 4	Haiti	3–1	Munich	Rivera, Benetti, Anastasi
		Argentina	1–1	Stuttgart	Perfumo (o.g.)
		Poland	1–2	Stuttgart	Capello
1978	Group 1	France	2–1	Mar del Plata	Rossi, Zaccarelli
		Hungary	3–1	Mar del Plata	Rossi, Bettega, Benetti
		Argentina	1–0	Buenos Aires	Bettega
	Group A	West Germany	0–0	Buenos Aires	—
		Austria	1–0	Buenos Aires	Rossi
		Netherlands	1–2	Buenos Aires	Brandts (o.g.)
	Third place play-off	Brazil	1–2	Buenos Aires	Causio
1982	Group 1	Poland	0–0	Vigo	—
		Peru	1–1	Vigo	Conti
		Cameroon	1–1	Vigo	Graziani
	Group C	Argentina	2–1	Barcelona	Tardelli, Cabrini
		Brazil	3–2	Barcelona	Rossi (3)
	Semi-finals	Poland	2–0	Barcelona	Rossi (2)
	Final	West Germany	3–1	Madrid	Rossi, Tardelli, Altobelli
1986	Group A	Bulgaria	1–1	Mexico City	Altobelli
		Argentina	1–1	Puebla	Altobelli
		South Korea	3–2	Puebla	Altobelli (2), Cho K. R. (o.g.)
	Round of 16	France	0–2	Mexico City	—
1990	Group A	Austria	1–0	Rome	Schillaci
		United States	1–0	Rome	Giannini
		Czechoslovakia	2–0	Rome	Schillaci, R. Baggio
	Round of 16	Uruguay	2–0	Rome	Schillaci, Serena
	Quarter-finals	Republic of Ireland	1–0	Rome	Schillaci
	Semi-finals	Argentina	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 pen.)	Naples	Schillaci
	Third place play-off	England	2–1	Bari	R. Baggio, Schillaci
1994	Group E	Republic of Ireland	0–1	East Rutherford	—
		Norway	1–0	East Rutherford	D. Baggio
		Mexico	1–1	Washington, D.C.	Massaro
	Round of 16	Nigeria	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Foxborough	R. Baggio (2)
	Quarter-finals	Spain	2–1	Foxborough	D. Baggio, R. Baggio
	Semi-finals	Bulgaria	2–1	East Rutherford	R. Baggio (2)
	Final	Brazil	0–0 (a.e.t.) (2–3 pen.)	Pasadena	—
1998	Group B	Chile	2–2	Bordeaux	Vieri, R. Baggio
		Cameroon	3–0	Montpellier	Vieri (2), Di Biagio
		Austria	2–1	Saint-Denis	Vieri, R. Baggio
	Round of 16	Norway	1–0	Marseille	Vieri
	Quarter-finals	France	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–4 pen.)	Saint-Denis	—
2002	Group G	Ecuador	2–0	Sapporo	Vieri (2)
		Croatia	1–2	Ibaraki	Vieri
		Mexico	1–1	Ōita	Del Piero
	Round of 16	South Korea	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Daejeon	Vieri
2006	Group E	Ghana	2–0	Hanover	Pirlo, Iaquinta
		United States	1–1	Kaiserslautern	Gilardino
		Czech Republic	2–0	Hamburg	Materazzi, Inzaghi
	Round of 16	Australia	1–0	Kaiserslautern	Totti
	Quarter-finals	Ukraine	3–0	Hamburg	Toni (2), Zambrotta
	Semi-finals	Germany	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Dortmund	Grosso, Del Piero
	Final	France	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 pen.)	Berlin	Materazzi
2010	Group F	Paraguay	1–1	Cape Town	De Rossi
		New Zealand	1–1	Nelspruit	Iaquinta
		Slovakia	2–3	Johannesburg	Di Natale, Quagliarella
2014	Group D	England	2–1	Manaus	Marchisio, Balotelli
		Costa Rica	0–1	Recife	—
		Uruguay	0–1	Natal	—

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded
Argentina	2	3	0	5	6	4
Australia	1	0	0	1	1	0
Austria	4	0	0	4	5	1
Belgium	1	0	0	1	4	1
Brazil	2	1	2	5	7	9
Bulgaria	1	1	0	2	3	2
Cameroon	1	1	0	2	4	1
Chile	1	1	1	3	4	4
Costa Rica	0	0	1	1	0	1
Croatia	0	0	1	1	1	2
Czech Republic	1	0	0	1	2	0
Czechoslovakia	2	0	0	2	4	1
Ecuador	1	0	0	1	2	0
England	2	0	0	2	4	2
France	2	2	1	5	6	5
Germany	3	2	0	5	9	4
Ghana	1	0	0	1	2	0
Haiti	1	0	0	1	3	1
Hungary	2	0	0	2	7	3
Israel	0	1	0	1	0	0
Mexico	1	2	0	3	6	3
Netherlands	0	0	1	1	1	2
New Zealand	0	1	0	1	1	1
Nigeria	1	0	0	1	2	1
North Korea	0	0	1	1	0	1
Norway	3	0	0	3	4	1
Paraguay	1	1	0	2	3	1
Peru	0	1	0	1	1	1
Poland	1	1	1	3	3	2
Republic of Ireland	1	0	1	2	1	1
Slovakia	0	0	1	1	2	3
South Korea	1	0	1	2	4	4
Soviet Union	0	0	1	1	0	1
Spain	2	1	0	3	4	2
Sweden	1	0	1	2	3	3
Switzerland	1	0	2	3	5	6
Ukraine	1	0	0	1	3	0
United States	2	1	0	3	9	2
Uruguay	1	1	1	3	2	1

With temperatures around 40 °C (104 °F), Italy won their home tournament in 1934 after going into extra time against Czechoslovakia.

GK Gianpiero Combi (c) RB Eraldo Monzeglio LB Luigi Allemandi RH Attilio Ferraris CH Luis Monti LH Luigi Bertolini OR Enrique Guaita IR Giuseppe Meazza IL Giovanni Ferrari OL Raimundo Orsi CF Angelo Schiavio Manager: Vittorio Pozzo

GK František Plánička (c) RB Josef Čtyřoký LB Ladislav Ženíšek RH Rudolf Krčil CH Štefan Čambal LH Josef Košťálek OR Antonín Puč IR Oldřich Nejedlý IL František Svoboda OL František Junek CF Jiří Sobotka Manager: Karel Petrů

After a difficult route to the final, defeating hosts France in the quarter-finals and Brazil in the semis, Italy was the first team to win the World Cup title on foreign ground. Also, it was the first of only two times in World Cup history that a team successfully defended their title.

GK Aldo Olivieri RB Alfredo Foni LB Pietro Rava RH Pietro Serantoni LH Ugo Locatelli CH Michele Andreolo IR Giuseppe Meazza (c) IL Giovanni Ferrari OR Amedeo Biavati CF Silvio Piola OL Gino Colaussi Manager: Vittorio Pozzo

GK Antal Szabó RB Sándor Bíró LB Gyula Polgár RH Gyula Lázár LH Antal Szalay CH György Szűcs IR Gyula Zsengellér IL Jenő Vincze OR Pál Titkos CF György Sárosi (c) OL Ferenc Sas Manager: Alfréd Schaffer

In 1970, the Brazilian team featured superstars like Pelé, Rivellino, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto and were considered favourites for the title. Particularly in the second half, the Italians were outclassed by the Brazilians passing play.

GK 1 Félix DF 4 Carlos Alberto (c) DF 2 Brito DF 3 Piazza DF 16 Everaldo MF 5 Clodoaldo MF 8 Gérson FW 7 Jairzinho FW 9 Tostão FW 10 Pelé FW 11 Rivellino Manager: Mário Zagallo

GK 1 Enrico Albertosi DF 2 Tarcisio Burgnich DF 5 Pierluigi Cera DF 8 Roberto Rosato DF 3 Giacinto Facchetti (c) MF 10 Mario Bertini  75' MF 13 Angelo Domenghini MF 16 Giancarlo De Sisti FW 15 Sandro Mazzola FW 11 Gigi Riva FW 20 Roberto Boninsegna  84' Substitutions: MF 18 Antonio Juliano  75' MF 14 Gianni Rivera  84' Manager: Ferruccio Valcareggi

Italy played three draws in the first group stage in a worrisome start to the tournament, proceeding ahead of Cameroon only on number of goals scored. However, the Italians continued to defeat Brazil, Argentina and a strong Polish side over the course of the tournament and faced West Germany in the final in Madrid.

Antonio Cabrini missed a penalty in the goalless first half, but the dominant Italian side eventually built up a 3–0 lead and won by 3–1 in the end, securing their third World Cup trophy.

GK 1 Dino Zoff (c) SW 7 Gaetano Scirea CB 6 Claudio Gentile CB 5 Fulvio Collovati RWB 3 Giuseppe Bergomi LWB 4 Antonio Cabrini DM 13 Gabriele Oriali  73' RM 16 Bruno Conti  31' CM 14 Marco Tardelli LW 19 Francesco Graziani  7' CF 20 Paolo Rossi Substitutions: GK 12 Ivano Bordon MF 10 Giuseppe Dossena MF 11 Giampiero Marini MF 15 Franco Causio  89' FW 18 Alessandro Altobelli  7'  89' Manager: Enzo Bearzot

GK 1 Harald Schumacher SW 15 Uli Stielike  73' RB 20 Manfred Kaltz CB 4 Karlheinz Förster LB 5 Bernd Förster RM 6 Wolfgang Dremmler  61'  62' CM 3 Paul Breitner LM 2 Hans-Peter Briegel RW 11 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (c)  70' LW 7 Pierre Littbarski  88' CF 8 Klaus Fischer Substitutions: GK 21 Bernd Franke DF 12 Wilfried Hannes MF 10 Hansi Müller  70' MF 14 Felix Magath FW 9 Horst Hrubesch  62' Manager: Jupp Derwall

The 1994 final was the first ever to be decided on penalties after goalless 120 minutes. Italian captain Franco Baresi missed the very first penalty, and Roberto Baggio the decisive last one.

Italy became the first team to lose two World Cup finals against the same opponent.

GK 1 Cláudio Taffarel RB 2 Jorginho  21' CB 13 Aldair CB 15 Marcio Santos LB 6 Branco CM 5 Mauro Silva CM 8 Dunga (c) AM 17 Mazinho  4' AM 9 Zinho  106' CF 11 Romário CF 7 Bebeto Substitutions: DF 14 Cafu  87'  21' FW 21 Viola  106' Manager: Carlos Alberto Parreira

GK 1 Gianluca Pagliuca RB 8 Roberto Mussi  35' CB 6 Franco Baresi (c) CB 5 Paolo Maldini LB 3 Antonio Benarrivo RM 14 Nicola Berti CM 13 Dino Baggio  95' CM 11 Demetrio Albertini  42' LM 16 Roberto Donadoni CF 10 Roberto Baggio CF 19 Daniele Massaro Substitutes: DF 2 Luigi Apolloni  41'  35' MF 17 Alberigo Evani  95' Manager: Arrigo Sacchi

Italian defender Marco Materazzi was involved in all three outstanding moments of the first 120 minutes: He conceded the penalty that was converted by Zinedine Zidane early in the game, equalised with a powerful header soon after, and provoked Zidane in a manner that lead to the French captain being sent off. He also scored in the penalty-shootout that was to follow.

It was only the second time a World Cup final was decided on penalties, again involving Italy after the 1994 final lost to Brazil.

GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon RB 19 Gianluca Zambrotta  5' CB 5 Fabio Cannavaro (c) CB 23 Marco Materazzi LB 3 Fabio Grosso RM 16 Mauro Camoranesi  86' CM 8 Gennaro Gattuso CM 21 Andrea Pirlo LM 20 Simone Perrotta  61' SS 10 Francesco Totti  61' CF 9 Luca Toni Substitutions: MF 4 Daniele De Rossi  61' FW 15 Vincenzo Iaquinta  61' FW 7 Alessandro Del Piero  86' Manager: Marcello Lippi

GK 16 Fabien Barthez RB 19 Willy Sagnol  12' CB 15 Lilian Thuram CB 5 William Gallas LB 3 Eric Abidal CM 4 Patrick Vieira  56' CM 6 Claude Makélélé  76' RW 22 Franck Ribéry  100' AM 10 Zinedine Zidane (c)  110' LW 7 Florent Malouda  111' CF 12 Thierry Henry  107' Substitutions: MF 18 Alou Diarra  56' FW 20 David Trezeguet  100' FW 11 Sylvain Wiltord  107' Manager: Raymond Domenech

Paolo Maldini is the player with the fourth-most matches at FIFA World Cups, trailing only behind the Argentinian Lionel Messi (26) and the Germans Lothar Matthäus (25) and Miroslav Klose (24). This also makes him the player with the most World Cup matches without winning the trophy.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is the only Italian player, and one of only three in the world, who have been part of five FIFA World Cup squads.^[2]

Rank	Player	Matches	World Cups
1	Paolo Maldini	23	1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002
2	Antonio Cabrini	18	1978, 1982 and 1986
	Gaetano Scirea	18	1978, 1982 and 1986
	Fabio Cannavaro	18	1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010
5	Dino Zoff	17	1974, 1978 and 1982
6	Giuseppe Bergomi	16	1982, 1986, 1990 and 1998
	Roberto Baggio	16	1990, 1994 and 1998
8	Paolo Rossi	14	1978 and 1982
	Gianluigi Buffon	14	2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014
10	Claudio Gentile	13	1978 and 1982
	Marco Tardelli	13	1978 and 1982
	Gianluca Zambrotta	13	2002, 2006 and 2010

Two Italians were awarded the Golden Boot for best goalscorer at a FIFA World Cup: Paolo Rossi in 1982 and Salvatore Schillaci in 1990 with 6 goals each.^[3]

Rank	Player	Goals	World Cups
1	Paolo Rossi	9	1978 (3) and 1982 (6)
	Roberto Baggio	9	1990 (2), 1994 (5) and 1998 (2)
	Christian Vieri	9	1998 (5) and 2002 (4)
4	Salvatore Schillaci	6	1990
5	Silvio Piola	5	1938
	Alessandro Altobelli	5	1982 (1) and 1986 (4)
7	Angelo Schiavio	4	1934
	Gino Colaussi	4	1938
9	Raimundo Orsi	3	1934
	Giuseppe Meazza	3	1934 (2) and 1938 (1)
	Gigi Riva	3	1970
	Gianni Rivera	3	1970 (2) and 1974 (1)

• World Champions 1934
• World Champions 1938
• World Champions 1982
• World Champions 2006
• Second Place 1970
• Second Place 1994
• Third Place 1990

Golden Ball award

• Golden Ball 1934: Giuseppe Meazza
• Golden Ball 1982: Paolo Rossi
• Golden Ball 1990: Salvatore Schillaci
• Silver Ball 1938: Silvio Piola
• Silver Ball 1978: Paolo Rossi
• Silver Ball 1994: Roberto Baggio
• Silver Ball 2006: Fabio Cannavaro
• Bronze Ball 2006: Andrea Pirlo

Golden Boot award

• Golden Boot 1982: Paolo Rossi
• Golden Boot 1990: Salvatore Schillaci
• Silver Boot 1934: Angelo Schiavio
• Silver Boot 1938: Silvio Piola
• Silver Boot 1998: Christian Vieri

Other individual awards

• Golden Glove 1982: Dino Zoff (oldest Golden Glove winner)
• Golden Glove 2006: Gianluigi Buffon
• Best Young Player Award 1978: Antonio Cabrini
• Man of the Match Award 2006: Andrea Pirlo

Three World Cup finals have been officiated by representatives of the Italian football federation, only English referees have had the honour more often (four times). The 1978 final between Argentina and the Netherlands has been led by Sergio Gonella, who had already officiated the European Championship final two years earlier. The other referees are Pierluigi Collina in 2002, and Nicola Rizzoli in 2014.

The Italian referee with the most World Cup matches, however, is Roberto Rosetti, who has been in charge of six matches total in 2006 and 2010.

• Italy at the UEFA European Championship

• Italian Football Federation official website
• FIFA Official Ranking of all Participants at Finals 1930–2002. FIFA Match Results for all Stages 1930–2002
• FIFA official site