Italy

War history: Italy has a brilliant record in the World Cup, winning four championships, two runner-ups and one third place. Ranked second in the number of championships won, second only to five-star Brazil; the Italian team did not participate in the first World Cup in 1930. Subsequently, they won consecutive championships in the 1934 World Cup held on home soil and the 1938 World Cup in France without losing a game, becoming the first defender of the World Cup. However, the subsequent World War II had a huge impact on Italian football. After World War II, the Italian team failed to qualify for four consecutive World Cups. Especially in the 1966 World Cup, they lost 0-1 to the North Korean team in the last game of the group stage, creating one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup. The performance of the two-time champions fell into a trough. In the 1970s, Italian football re-emerged. In the 1970 World Cup, Italy sang all the way and defeated the German team led by Beckenbauer in the semi-finals to reach the final. However, facing the Brazilian team led by football king Pele, the Italian team's defense appeared to be fragmented. In the end, they lost 1-4 and finished second. For Italians, 1982 was a "strange World Cup". They had three draws in the group stage and barely qualified. In the rematch, the Italians were placed in a group with the South American duo of Argentina and Brazil. At that time, almost no one was optimistic about the prospects of the Italian team. However, the Italians still created a miracle. The main center back Gentile successfully targeted Maradona and Zico in two consecutive games. Golden boy Rossi also broke the goal drought in the game with the Brazilian team and scored all three goals of the team. After passing the two most difficult hurdles, the rest of the game was easy for the Italians. They defeated Poland 2-0 in the semi-finals (Rossi scored two goals again), and the Italian team beat West Germany 3-1 in the final (Rossi scored the first goal), winning the World Cup for the third time. Rossi was named the top scorer with 6 goals, and the 40-year-old goalkeeper and captain Zoff became the oldest player to win the World Cup. In 1990, the Italian team failed to complete the task of winning the World Cup in their home country. They fell at the feet of Argentina in the semi-finals and eventually finished third; in 1994, the Italian team reached the final with Baggio's 5 goals in the knockout round. Unfortunately, they lost to Brazil on penalty kicks in the final and finished second. In 1998, Italy met the host France in the quarter-finals. After 120 minutes of battle between the two sides, Italy was eliminated on penalty kicks. In 2002, Italy was dragged into overtime by the South Korean team due to the referee's serious bias towards the host nation, and ultimately lost the game with a golden goal. This game is also considered one of the darkest games in the history of the World Cup. In 2004, "world famous coach" Lippi took over Italy In his club career, Lippi really no longer needs to prove anything. He needs to go to a new stage to write a new legend. People say that Lippi's Italian team is very similar to the one of Bearzot in 1982. Maybe this time, Lippi will really surprise people. Lippi is a person who is good at creating miracles and brilliance. In fact, In every World Series, Italy is the favorite team to win that event. Having excellent players and rich experience in competitions is their capital. Now the team has even more capital to show off - they have a coach with outstanding merits and outstanding talent. Perhaps in the World Cup in Germany, this capital will eventually become the most important reason to win the championship. In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Italy defeated Ghana 2-0 in the group stage. Zaccardo scored an own goal against the United States, becoming the first Italian team to concede in this World Cup. In this game, the Italian team relied on Gilardino's diving header and Zaccardo's own goal to draw 1-1 with the American team. In the third game, they defeated the Czech team 2-0. Ended the group stage and entered the top 16. In the 1/8 finals, Italy and Australia fought for 89 minutes. In the stoppage time of the game, Grosso dribbled the ball into the Australian team's penalty area and was put down. The referee pointed to the penalty spot. Totti hit the penalty kick into the absolute dead center. The Italian team defeated the Australian team 1-0 to advance to the top 8. In the quarter-finals, Italy opened the scoring with Zambrotta's long shot and eventually defeated Ukraine 3-0.