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Football ( ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Brazil (with five), runners-up in two finals both against Brazil, (1970, 1994) and reaching a third place (1990) and a fourth place (1978). They have also won two European Championships (1968 and 2020), also appeared in two finals (2000, 2012), finished third at the Confederations Cup (2013) and the Nations League (2021 and 2023), won one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two Central European International Cups (1927–30 and 1933–35).

Italy's top domestic league, the Serie A, is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world because it is often depicted as the most tactical national football league, and is among the top five European football leagues.<!--http://www.sportfive.com/index.php?id=1182 --> Italy's club sides have won 48 major European trophies, making them the second most successful nation in European football. Serie A hosts three of the world's most famous clubs as Juventus, Milan, and Inter, all founding members of the G-14, a group which represented the largest and most prestigious European football clubs; Serie A was the only league to produce three founding members.

Juventus, Milan, and Inter (the Big Three), along with Roma, Lazio, historically Parma and Fiorentina but now replaced by Napoli and Atalanta are known as the Seven Sisters of Italian football due to their popular support and dominance in league and cups between the 1990s and 2020s. Italian managers are among the most successful in European football, especially in competitions such as the Champions League. More players have won the coveted Ballon d'Or award while playing in Serie A than any other league in the world after La Liga.

History

Ancient times and calcio fiorentino

thumb|230px|Illustration of a game of calcio fiorentino from 1688

Other forms of football were played in Italy in ancient times, the earliest of which was Harpastum, played during the times of the Roman Empire. This game may have also been influential in other forms throughout Europe due to the expansion of the Roman Empire, including Medieval football. From the 16th century onwards, calcio fiorentino, another code of football distinct from the modern game, was played in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. Some famous Florentines were among the players of the game, particularly the Medici family including Piero, Lorenzo, and Alessandro de' Medici, as well as popes who played the game in the Vatican, such as Clement VII, Leo XI, and Urban VIII. as well as the most popular sport in Italy.

Italian football is born in Turin and Genoa

The modern variation of the game was brought to Italy during the 1880s. Edoardo Bosio, a merchant worker in the British textile industry, had visited England and experienced the game. He returned to Turin in 1887 and was motivated to help spread football in his homeland. He founded the first football club in Italy (Torino Football and Cricket Club) that year, while Nobili Torino (Turin Nobles) soon followed. The second club bore the name noble because it contained Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, and Alfonso Ferrero de Gubernatis Ventimiglia, who would later become president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).<!----> The two merged in 1891 to form Internazionale Football Club Torino. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, formed as a cricket club to represent England abroad, was founded by Englishmen in 1893. In 1896, a man named James Richardson Spensley arrived in Genoa and introduced the football section of the club, becoming its first manager.

Genoa is the oldest Italian football club still active and the one in possession of the oldest founding document.

Some early tournaments were organised by the Italian Gymnastics Federation (FGI, later named FGNI, Federazione Ginnastica Nazionale Italiana)) between 1895 and 1897 and until 1913. In 1898, a new federation, the future FIGC but then known as Federazione Italiana del Foot-ball (FIF) until 1909, was formed, centred originally in Turin. The FIF first president was Mario Vicary.

The FIGC created the Italian Football Championship with the four founding clubs being; Genoa, Torinese, Ginnastica Torino, and Internazionale Torino. Its first competition, the 1898 Italian Football Championship, was held at the Velodrome Humbert I in Turin on 8 May 1898, and was won by Genoa. Genoa won the Italian Football Championship on five out of six occasions, interrupted by AC Milan in 1901. While it was common for clubs to compete in both FIGC and FGNI competitions early on,-->

From 1904 the replacement tournament called Prima Categoria was structured into regional groups. Winners of each group participated in a playoff with the eventual winners being declared champions. Between 1905 and 1908, a Final Group among regional champions was contested to award the title and the Spensley Cup. Juventus won his first title and Spensley Cup in 1905, while the following two championships were won by Milan.

Italianisation and split of the championship

In November 1907, the FIF organised two championships for the 1908 season:

  1. Italian Championship: The main tournament where only Italian players were allowed to play; the winners would be proclaimed Campioni d'Italia (Italian Champions) and would be awarded the Bruni Cup.
  2. Federal Championship: A secondary tournament where foreign players (if they lived in Italy) were also allowed to play; the winners would be proclaimed Campioni Federali (Federal Champions) and would be awarded the Spensley Cup. The majority of big clubs (Genoa, Milan, and Torino) withdrew from both the championships in order to protest against the autocratic policy of the FIF.

The 1908 Italian Championship and the Bruni Cup were won by Pro Vercelli, beating Juventus, Doria, and Milanese. The Federal Championship was won by Juventus against Doria,. The Federal Championship won by Juventus was later forgotten by FIGC due to the boycott by the dissident clubs. 1908 also saw a scission within Milan that led to the foundation of Inter.

In the 1909 Italian football season, the two different championships were organised again, with the Oberti Cup in lieu of the Spensley Cup for the Federal Championship. This time, the majority of big clubs decided to only withdraw from the Italian Championship in order to make the Federal competition the most relevant tournament and to diminish the Italian one. The Federal Championship was won by Pro Vercelli, beating Milanese in the Final, while the Italian Championship was won by Juventus, again beating Milanese in the Final. Ultimately, the dissenters' strategy worked out, as the failure of the Italian Championship won by Juventus forced the FIGC to later recognise the Federal Champions of Pro Vercelli as "Campioni d'Italia 1909", disavowing the other tournament and depriving Juventus of another title.