Federico Chiesa signs for Liverpool from Juventus
Liverpool have signed Italy forward Federico Chiesa from Juventus on a long-term deal, boosting their attacking options for the future.
Italy have won four FIFA World Cup titles, putting them joint-second with Germany and behind five-time winners Brazil in the worldwide standings.
Italy are known for a football philosophy which revolves around a rock-solid defence. This solidity was key to their 2006 FIFA World Cup victory and the European Championship win in 2020 - their most recent major tournament triumph.
Governed by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), Italy have been one of the most consistently successful teams in world football history.
Italy are currently managed by Luciano Spalletti.
Italy beat France 6-2 in their first ever football match in 1910 having only been founded in the same year. The game was held at the Arena Civica in Milan in front of approximately 4,000 spectators, playing in a white home kit for one of only two times before switching to the famous royal blue jerseys.
Long before the days of the Italian 'Catenaccio' ('door-bolt', a defence-based philosophy), the side lined up in the 2-3-5 formation of the day that worked to great success in the romp over their neighbours. Italian fans reportedly threw cigarette packets at their team after the game, such was the impression left on the faithful in their first contest.
Their first significant success as a nation arrived when they picked up a bronze medal in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. They had only lost twice in the previous three years, but fell to Uruguay in the semi-finals, but beat Egypt in the third-place play-off by a stunning scoreline of 11-3 to secure their first piece of silverware.
Their run to third-place included wins over fellow European nations France and Spain, the latter having to be settled by a rematch after an initial 1-1 draw (Italy won 7-1 in the rematch).
Ever the innovators, the Azzurri also came first in the now defunct Central European International Cup in its first edition between 1927-30.
Despite lodging to host the tournament before the 1928 Olympics, the Azzurri declined to participate in the inaugural World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay. They were not alone in their thinking, with other European nations like Holland and Spain declining their invite on the basis of their players' concerns that they would come home from to no jobs in the era of the Great Depression.
Italy did, however, make up for lost time by going on to win the next two tournaments in 1934 and 1938, led by the trail-blazing Vittorio Pozzo as the coach and star player Giuseppe Meazza, coined as 'Il Genio' ('The Genius') by the press.
Evidently, Italy learned their lesson from their 1966 humiliation, because in 1968, they became European champions for the first time after beating Yugoslavia in Rome for their first piece of silverware for 30 years.
Nonetheless, luck was on the side of the Italians after their 0-0 draw against the Soviet Union in the semi-finals was fatefully decided by a coin toss. The initial final match was a 1-1 draw after extra time, with Italy winning the replay 2-0 thanks to goals from Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi.
In 1970, Italy reached the World Cup final for the first time since their last win in 1938 but were eventually beaten by the famous Brazil side that included Pele's final tournament appearance.
At the tournament, Italy beat eventual champions Argentina, but a 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands meant they had to settle for a place in the third-place playoff. Goalkeeper Dino Zoff's error in the match against Holland proved costly as he was beaten from long range by Arie Haan.
Italy hosted the European Championships for the second time in 1980, but had to settle for fourth place after Fulvio Collovati missed the final penalty in a scintillating third-place playoff game to Czechoslovakia, finishing 9-8 on penalties.
The 1982 World Cup came off the back of a Serie A match-fixing and betting scandal, known as the Totonero scandal of 1980, which saw players such as Paolo Rossi prosecuted and suspended for two years for match fixing.
In their second round group, Italy beat Argentina 2-1 before Paolo Rossi inspired a 3-2 win over Brazil, which sent them through to the semi-finals, where they beat Poland thanks to another Rossi intervention, this time in the form of a brace.
Under new coach Azeglio Vicini, new players such as Paolo Maldini, Ciro Ferrara and Gianluca Vialli were given a chance to impress. In 1988, Italy were beaten at the semi-final stage of the European Championships to a resolute Soviet Union in a 2-0 loss.
Despite the worldwide acclaim of its domestic league in the decade, the national team seldom matched the glory of Serie A.
In 2000, Italy made the final of the European Championships by beating the Netherlands in a penalty shootout. However, a golden goal from David Trezeguet saw them lose the final to France.
New manager Marcello Lippi wrote his name into the World Cup history books by leading this squad to victory despite off-field turmoil.
Italy's run to glory was impressive, conceding once in six games preceding the meeting with France, a storied rivalry in international competition. Along with Les Bleus overcoming Italy six years previous in the European Championship final, the rivals had met four times in previous World Cups (each side winning twice previous to 2006).
Italy were eliminated from the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 by eventual champions Spain and suffered a horrific group stage exit at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The Azzurri were eliminated from the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 in France by then-world champions Germany.
Roberto Mancini took over as Italy's manager in 2018 and won 18 of his first 27 matches in charge, including an unprecedented 10-match win streak in their 2020 European Championship qualifiers.
It marked the second successive World Cup Italy failed to reach after their play-off defeat four years ago to Sweden.
Three years after lifting the trophy at Wembley, the European champions looked a shadow of the team that emerged to take the title in 2021.
They stumbled through the group stage beating Albania, losing to Spain and grabbing a last minute equaliser against Croatia to finish runners-up.
Buit they crashed out of Euro 2024 after a limp 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in their last-16 clash in Berlin.
A goal in each half from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas were enough to hand Switzerland victory, with Murat Yakin’s players taking full advantage of Italy’s lethargy. .
Italy boasts a plethora of rivalries with different nations. Their matchup with Brazil is known as 'Clasico Mundial' or the 'World Derby', being two of the most successful nations internationally who share nine World Cups and 10 continental titles between them. The sides have met twice in the World Cup final, in 1970 and 1994, with the Selecao coming out the better on both occasions.
Diego Maradona infamously tried to exploit this when he encouraged the people of Naples to cheer on Argentina in the 1990 World Cup semi-final rather than Italy. Maradona was a player at the southern club Napoli at the time.
Liverpool have signed Italy forward Federico Chiesa from Juventus on a long-term deal, boosting their attacking options for the future.
Italy international Federico Chiesa is on the verge of joining Liverpool after the Premier League club and Juventus agreed a deal which could rise to £12.5 million.
While the international break begins for the top two tiers, the EFL takes centre stage and our Monday night bet-builder offering comes from League Two as Bradford host Newport.
Declan Rice has insisted he would forever be "haunted" by watching Italy lift the European Championship. Three years on, he called on England to write a new chapter against Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Holders Italy crashed out of Euro 2024 as Luciano Spalletti's side fell to a limp 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in their last-16 clash in Berlin.
Title holders Italy will need to change gear against Switzerland in the Euro 2024 last 16 on Saturday, according to head coach Luciano Spalletti.
Planet Sport has put together a fantastic (hopefully) five-fold for this weekend’s Copa America and Euro 2024 fixtures