With three FIFA World Cup™ titles to their name, Italy count as one of the greatest football nations in the world. Their first title was captured as early as 1934 at the second ever FIFA World Cup, held in their home country. Four years later in France they became the first team ever to successfully defend a FIFA World Cup title.

Their current tally of fifteen World Cup appearances means that they have failed to qualify only once - in 1958 in Sweden. Italy repeated their 1934 and '38 successes in 1982, becoming world champions for the third time largely thanks to an outstanding performance by striker Paolo Rossi. Rossi exploded into action in the knock-out stages, scoring a hat trick against Brazil to put his side through to the semi-final where his two goals against Poland paved the way to the final, where Italy won improbably 3-1 against Germany. Rossi crowned his performance by scoring his sixth goal of the tournament and winning the Golden Boot as top scorer.

The Italian team traditionally draws its strength from a strong national league, with world-famous teams such as AC Milan, Juventus and AS Roma. Italy's Serie A has produced such resonant names as Roberto Baggio, Franco Baresi, Marco Tardelli and the legendary Dino Zoff. Today, the squad consists of such world-class players like Francesco Totti, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, and Gianluigi Buffon.

Azzurri Central keeps you informed on all the latest developments regarding the Italian national team, aka the Azzurri.

This website was created on 2nd October 2005 by Rinaldo D'Souza, India. It was a very boring Sunday afternoon, and he couldn't think of anything better to do.

Last updated: 15 October, 2005.