| The team's first match was held in Milan on 15 May | | | | Virginio Rosetta In the 1934 World Cup, the host |
| 1910, Italy defeated France by a score of 6–2. | | | | Azzurri defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1 in Rome, with |
| Some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, the best | | | | goals by Raimundo Orsi and Angelo Schiavio. The Italy |
| team of the league, out of the game. At the end of | | | | national football team represents Italy in international |
| the match, the players received as a prize some | | | | football competition and is controlled by the |
| cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators. The | | | | Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC). They are |
| Italian team (2-3-5): De Simoni; Varisco, Calì; Trerè, | | | | the current World Champions, having won the 2006 |
| Fossati, Capello; Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, | | | | FIFA World Cup. |
| Boiocchi. First captain of the team was Francesco | | | | Italy is among the top teams in international football and |
| Calì | | | | the second most successful national team in the |
| The first success in an official tournament came with | | | | history of the World Cup having won four titles (1934, |
| the bronze medal in 1928 Summer Olympics, held in | | | | 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. To this |
| Amsterdam. After losing the semi-final against | | | | tally they can add one European championship (1968), |
| Uruguay, a victory for 11-3 against Egypt secured third | | | | one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two |
| place in the competition. | | | | (defunct) Central European International Cups. |
| After declining to participate in the first World Cup | | | | The traditional colour of the national team (as well as |
| (1930, in Uruguay) the Italian national team won two | | | | all Italian teams and athletes) is azure blue (azzurro, in |
| consecutive editions of the tournament in 1934 and | | | | Italian), due to the "Azzurro Savoia" (Savoy Blue), the |
| 1938, under the lead of coach Vittorio Pozzo and | | | | colour traditionally linked to the royal dynasty which |
| thanks to the genius of Giuseppe Meazza, one of the | | | | unified Italy in 1861, and maintained in the official |
| best Italian players ever. Other stars of that era | | | | standard of the President of the Italian Republic. |
| included Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Silvio Piola and | | | | |