Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning team – Who were the players and where are they now?

The Azzurri won their fourth World Cup in 2006

Italy are one of the traditional heavyweights in European football. They have won the World Cup four times and have finished runners-up on two occassions.

The last time they became world champions was in 2006 when the marquee event was held in Germany. They defeated Zinedine Zidane’s France in the final in a tiebreaker after the two teams were locked at 1-1 following 120 minutes of football.

Although Italy emerged triumphant, the post-match talk was mostly around Zidane’s headbutt on Marco Materazzi and his subsequent sending-off.

Italy’s title was their first after 24 years which put them just one behind Brazil, the most successful nation in World Cups.