The Italy national football team is considered by soccer fans to be one of the all-time powerhouses in soccer. The national team is fondly called Gli Azzurri by the fans and has a worldwide following. Italy played the World Cup for the first time in 1934. At that time, Italy was the venue for the World Cup. Italy won the first World Cup. Italy, led by Gianpiero Combi, won the match.
Legendary players like Umberto Caligaris, Giovanni Ferrari, Attilio Ferraris, Giuseppe Meazza and Virginio Rosetta lined up for Italy in the 1934 World Cup. Angelo Schiavio scored 4 goals and Raimundo Orsi scored 3 goals for Italy in this World Cup. Italy defeated the United States 7–1 in the round of 16 before losing to Spain in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals. Italy defeated Australia in the semi-finals and defeated Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the final to win their first title.
Italy also won the next World Cup held in France. In the 1938 World Cup, Italy, led by Giuseppe Meazza, defeated Hungary in the final to win the title. Legends like Giovanni Ferrari, Eraldo Monzeglio and Mario Perazzolo were lined up in the Italian team that day. After that, Italy failed to make it past the group stage in four consecutive World Cups. Later, Italy won the World Cup for the third time in 1982 in Spain. Italy won that day thanks to Paolo Rossi’s personal best. Paolo Rossi, who scored 6 goals in the 1982 World Cup, was the top scorer of the World Cup and was named the best player of the World Cup.
Italy won by defeating West Germany in the final. Subsequently, Italy lifted their fourth World Cup title at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The Italian team led by Fabio Cannavaro and featuring legendary players like Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta defeated France in the final. But despite having such a big squad, it is very unfortunate that Italy did not qualify for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.