FIFA World Cup History: Italy and the ups and downs of the Italians
Italy are the second most successful national side with regard to the FIFA World Cup, having won the competition a total of four times. They are only one win behind the mighty Brazilians who have won the competition an astonishing five times.
In 1934 Italy hosted its first ever FIFA World Cup. It was also the first time the Italian national team participated in such a tournament. The Italians had a great start to the tournament after doing exceptionally well during the group stages. Italy reached the quarter finals of the competition along with seven other European nations. They played against the Spanish in the quarter finals and adopted a very physical approach to the match. They injured the Spanish goal keeper, who had to leave the field due to injury and could not make an appearance in the replay of the match because of the same injury. (During those times, the concept of penalty shoot outs did not exist and when a game ended at a draw, replays took place).
The Italians took the field in the replay match with the same mindset, and this resulted in three Spanish players getting injured and leaving the field of play. Eventually Italy won the match 1-0 and progressed onto the semi-finals where they encountered Austria. The Austrians were also defeated by the Italians by the same score line of 1-0.
Italy then played Czechoslovakia in the final match of the 1934 World Cup. The Czechoslovakians were leading till the end of the second half but Italy scored a dramatic equalizer around the 70th minute mark. The match went into overtime where Italy won it by scoring another late goal. Italy were successful again in the 1938 FIFA World Cup as well and became the first nation ever to win back to back World Cup titles.
The next FIFA World Cup was held in the year 1950 in Europe, after World War II had come to an end. The Italians participated again and this time didn’t even manage to progress past the first round despite having a lot of expectations associated with them.
In the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, Italy again disappointed after failing to win their knockout playoff tie breaker game against the host nation. This resulted in their elimination from the tournament after just playing in the first round of the tournament. Then Italy failed to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. And in the 1962 FIFA World Cup the Italians again faltered after they were eliminated in the first round of the tournament repeating the same performance with the same results in the 1966 FIFA World Cup held in England.
A transformed Italy participated in the 1970 FIFA World Cup where they made it to the finals by beating Mexico in the quarter finals and West Germany in the semi finals. The Italians played out “The Game of the Century” against the Germans in the semis of the tournament, with the final score being 4-3 after extra time was over. The Italians then took on Brazil in the final match of the World Cup, where they lost 4-1 to goals by the brilliant Pele, Jarzinho, Carlos Alberto and Gerson.
Italy went to the 1974 World Cup as real contenders but again failed to perform and were knocked out of the World Cup in the first round. In the 1978 FIFA World Cup which was hosted in Argentina, Italy progressed from a tough first round group after defeating the hosts Argentina. In the second round they faced Netherlands for a spot in the final of the world cup. Italy lost against a quality Dutch side which believed in the “Total Football” philosophy. Nonetheless it was heralded as a huge achievement by Italy who didn’t even make it past the first round in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
Next, in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Italians again showed their class with their superstar striker Paolo Rossi who was declared the winner of the golden boot at the end of the tournament as Italy won their third world cup title. Italy defeated a strong West Germany side in the final by 3 goals to 1.
In the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Italy only managed to progress to the round of sixteen where they lost to a French side led by Michel Platini. Italy hosted the 1990 FIFA World Cup and in doing so became the second nation to host the World Cup twice, the other being Mexico. Italians did quite well at this tournament and went till the semi finals were they lost to Argentina on penalties.
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was held in U.S.A and Italy again managed to perform admirably after fighting their way to the final of the tournament only losing to Brazil on penalties. Roberto Baggio, Italy’s star player during the tournament missed his penalty in the shootout giving Brazil the title. It was a devastating moment for Baggio who had performed exceptionally well in the World Cup up till then. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Italy only made it till the quarters where they lost on penalties to the French who eventually won the tournament.
In the 2002 World Cup, they went out at the round of 16 stages, after a controversial match against the host nation South Korea, which they lost to a goal in the sudden death extra time period. The final score of the match was two goals to one. Then in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Italy gave the world a perfect example of how to play defensive football as they went onto win the title without even conceding a single goal from open play. In the final they played a France team led by Zinedine Zidane. Zidane was sent off during the match after a controversial head butt on the Italian defender Marco Materazzi. Italy won the match eventually after they converted all of their penalty kicks in the penalty shootout. This World Cup has seen a sad performance from the Italians as well, today’s match will be the judge of their faith in the championship.
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