Original Puma Italy 2007/08 football shirt

The Italy national football team is a team of football players that represents Italy in international competitions. Its nickname is La Squadra Azzurra (The Blue Team) or its derivative Azzurri (Blue).

Italy became four times world champion: in 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006 and twice European champion in 1968 and 2021. A tradition within the Italian national football team is that the player with the most games played for the team is automatically the captain.

On the occasion of the centenary of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, the Italian selection played a friendly against a FIFA world team in the Olympic Stadium on December 16, 1998. The duel led by the French referee Rémi Harrel is considered an official international match for the Italian federation; striker Marco Delvecchio made his official debut for the Azzurri. He came in at halftime for Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus FC). Italy won the jubilee match 6-2 by successive hits from Filippo Inzaghi, Eusebio Di Francesco, Diego Fuser and Enrico Chiesa (3). Gabriel Batistuta and George Weah scored for the world team.