Italy national football team (Azzuri)

Spanning well over a century, the history of football in Italy is marked by a long list of trophies on club and national team levels, but also by some seriously negative events and scandals.

In Italy, football is known as calcio, which was an Italian ballgame dating back to the Middle Ages. It is vaguely soccer-like and the modern game was officially given it this name in a debate over amateurism in the 1920s.

Although Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (the Italian Football Federation) was founded in 1898, Italy played their first competitive match in 1910 when they lined up against France in Milan.

The Italian national team is famously called the Azzuri (the Blues), a reference to their traditional shirts and the colour of the House of Savoy, the ruling family of Italy until the Second World War.

Italy has to be considered as the most successful European football nation from their dominance in the World Cup.

As well as their record of competing in 17 of the 19 finals tournaments, the Azzurri have won the final four times (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006) – and achievement only eclipsed by Brazil’s five successes.

Italy also have one European Championship to their credit, having won the tournament on home soil in 1968, and also reached the Euro 2000 final against reigning world champions France.

To add to their fine collection, Italy also won Olympic gold medals in Germany in 1936.