Italy is one of the most successful national teams in the history of the World Cup , having won four titles ( 1934 , 1938 , 1982 , 2006 ) and appearing in two other finals ( 1970 , 1994 ) , reaching a third place ( 1990 ) and a fourth place ( 1978 ) . In 1938 , they became the first team to defend their World Cup title , and due to the outbreak of World War II , retained the title for a further 12 years . Italy had also previously won two Central European International Cups ( 1927 – 30 , 1933 – 35 ) . Between its first two World Cup victories , Italy won the Olympic football tournament ( 1936 ) . After the majority of the team was killed in a plane crash in 1949 , the team did not advance past the group stage of the following two World Cup tournaments , and also failed to qualify for the 1958 edition — failure to qualify for the World Cup would not happen again until the 2018 edition . Italy returned to form by 1968 , winning a European Championship ( 1968 ) , and after a period of alternating unsuccessful qualification rounds in Europe , later appeared in two other finals ( 2000 , 2012 ) . Italy 's highest finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup was in 2013 , where the squad achieved a third-place finish
plane crash
Superga air disaster
Italy national football team