Summer 2006. Italian football was in crisis. Just weeks before the World Cup began, the Calciopoli scandal exploded, threatening to tear Serie A apart.
Juventus would be relegated, titles stripped, and some of Italy’s biggest clubs found themselves at the centre of the biggest scandal in modern Italian football.
Many believed the Azzurri were finished before a ball had even been kicked. But what followed was one of the greatest World Cup campaigns ever seen.
Led by the brilliance of Andrea Pirlo, the leadership of Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon, and a team spirit forged in adversity, Marcello Lippi’s men would navigate controversy, drama, extra-time heartbreaks, a legendary semi-final against Germany, and one of the most infamous moments in football history.
This is the story of Italy’s victory at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Ps. We've had to reschedule our interview with Mirko Di Natale regarding the Juventus deep dive to next Monday due to unforeseen events. So instead we're publishing this historic throwback.
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