The Italian football team, called the 'Azzurri', have been World Cup Champions four times: 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006. In their most recent World Cup in 2014, Italy were surprisingly eliminated at the group stage, and in 2018, Italy couldn't score in 180 minutes of football against Sweden in their play-off, failing to qualify for the first time since 1958. In 2022, Italy again failed to qualify.

1934

  • Italy's World Cup 1934 player, Allemandi was once banned from football for life for accepting a bribe. The Juventus player was found to have accepted a 50,000-Lire payment to cheat in a match against Torino. However, he was later reinstated and chosen as captain of the Italian national team in the World Cup 1934.
  • Italian player Raimondo Orsi went back to the stadium the day after the 1934 final to demonstrate his spectacular curling shot, as the press photographers wanted to take a picture of Orsi's swerving shot that had turned into a winning goal in the final. He tried more than 20 times to repeat that splendid shot on the same spot, but failed each time.

1938

  • As Italian skipper Peppino Meazza scored the penalty kick in a 1938 semi-final, his shorts, torn earlier in the game, slipped down to leave him exposed. His celebrating teammates surrounded him until a new pair of shorts was given to him.
  • Right before the Italy and Hungary 1938 final match, the Italian players received a telegraph from Rome which read 'Win or die!' Fortunately, the team won and did not have to find out if it was a hoax or not.
  • The only manager to win successive World Cups was Italy's Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938.

1950

  • Because of World War II, the World Cup was not held between 1938 and 1950. As a result, Italy were the reigning World Cup holders for a record 16 years leading up to the 1950 World Cup.
  • Eight Italian internationals were killed in an air crash shortly before the 1950 finals, in the Superga air disaster.
  • Uruguay defeated the host country, Brazil, to win the 1950 World Cup.

1982

  • Italy won the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain by beating West Germany 3-1 in the final match of the competition. The Azzurri beat West Germany to lift its third World Cup trophy in Spain, all thanks to goals from Paolo Rossi, Marco Tardelli, and Alessandro Altobelli.

1994

  • Italian Striker Gianfranco Zola was sent off on his 28th birthday, when he played in one of Italy's crucial matches in the 1994 World Cup. He was sent off in the 76th minute in a Second Round match against Nigeria on 5 July 1994. Italy won the match 2-1 and went on to reach the final.
  • The 1994 World Cup final match was between Brazil and Italy, which ended 0-0 in full-time. Brazil eventually won 3-2 on penalties to lift the 1994 World Cup trophy.

2006

  • Italy won the 2006 World Cup, hosted by Germany, making it the country's fourth World Cup trophy. The Azzurri beat France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup trophy in Berlin after both teams played a 1-1 draw in full-time.
  • Zinedine Zidane was sent-off for headbutting Marco Materazzi, which changed the dynamics of the game.
  • Fabio Grosso scored the winning penalty that sealed the win for Italy.

2010

  • Italy surprisingly failed to advance past the first stage of the 2010 World Cup. They were the winners of the previous World Cup in 2006.
  • Italy played its first Group F match against Paraguay, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Next, Italy faced New Zealand in its second group match, which also ended in a 1-1 draw. Italy's third group match was against Slovakia, which ended 3-2 in favor of Slovakia.

2014

  • Italy did not make it out of the 2014 World Cup group stage again. The team won its first group stage match against England, but lost other crucial matches. Costa Rica won Italy 1-0 in Italy's second group stage match. Italy lost 1-0 to Uruguay in their third group stage match, which meant they could not proceed to the next round.

2018

Italy did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

2022

Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

2026

Italy has not yet qualified for the 2026 World Cup. But, they have qualified for the play-offs after finishing second in their World Cup qualification group. Play-off matches will be played on the 26th and 31st of March 2026.