Italy World Cup Information

Italy are the current World Cup holders and are among the top teams in international football and the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil.

The traditional colour of the national team (as well as all Italian teams and athletes) is azure blue (azzurro, in Italian), due to the "Azzurro Savoia" (Savoy Blue), the colour traditionally linked to the dynasty which unified Italy in 1861. Therefore, national team members are nicknamed Azzurri.

2006 World Cup

Italy's campaign in the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany was accompanied by open pessimism due to the controversy caused by the 2006 Serie A scandal. These negative predictions were then refuted, as Azzurri eventually won their fourth World Cup.

Italy won their opening game against Ghana 2-0, with goals from Andrea Pirlo (40') and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta (83'). The team performance was judged the best among the opening games by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

The second match was a less convincing 1-1 draw with USA, with Alberto Gilardino's diving header equalized by a Cristian Zaccardo own goal. After the equalizer, midfielder Daniele De Rossi and the USA's Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope were sent off, leaving only nineteen men on the field for nearly the entirety of the second half, but the score remained unchanged despite a controversial decision when Gennaro Gattuso's shot was deflected in but disallowed because of an offside. The same happened for the U.S. when Demarcus Beasley's goal was called offside. De Rossi was suspended for four matches for elbowing American player Brian McBride and could only return for the final match.

Italy finished first in Group E with a 2-0 win against the Czech Republic, with goals from defender Marco Materazzi (26') and striker Filippo Inzaghi (87'), advancing to the Round of 16 in the knockout stages, where they faced Australia. In this match, Materazzi was controversially sent off early in the second half (53') after a two footed tackle on Australian midfielder Marco Bresciano. In stoppage time a penalty kick was awarded to the Italians after Fabio Grosso went to ground after making contact with Australian defender Lucas Neill who was laying on the ground. Francesco Totti converted it for a 1-0 win.

In the quarterfinals Italy beat Ukraine 3-0. Gianluca Zambrotta opened the scoring early (6') with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area and Luca Toni added two more goals (59' and 69'). Manager Marcello Lippi dedicated the victory to former Italian international Gianluca Pessotto, who was in the hospital recovering from an apparent suicide attempt.

In the semi-final, Italy beat host country Germany 2-0 with the two goals coming in the last two minutes of extra time. After an exciting half hour of extra time during which Gilardino and Zambrotta struck the post and the crossbar respectively, Grosso scored in the 119th minute after a disguised Pirlo pass found him open in the penalty area for a bending left-footed shot into the far corner past German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's dive. Substitute striker Alessandro Del Piero then sealed the victory by scoring with the last kick of the game at the end of a swift counterattack.

Within the crowd in the Circus Maximus in Rome, after the Italian team scored against FranceThe Azzurri won their fourth World Cup, defeating their long-time rivals France in Berlin, on July 9, 5-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time. French captain Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a chipped penalty kick, controversially awarded for a foul by Materazzi. Twelve minutes later, a powerful header by Materazzi from a corner kick by Pirlo brought Italy even. In the second half, a goal by Toni was disallowed for a very close offside call. At 110', Zidane was sent off after a head butt, after a verbal exchange with Materazzi; the two players were eventually fined by FIFA for this incident. Italy then won the penalty shoot-out 5-3, the crucial penalty being David Trézéguet's attempt that hit the crossbar and stayed out. Italy scored all five attempts in a shootout for the first time ever (Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi, Del Piero and Grosso). Italy remain the only side to have played in the two World Cup finals that have ended in shootouts; in 1994 and 2006.