Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning squad: How many of the players can you name?

Nineteen years ago to this day, Italy were crowned world champions for the fourth time in their history when they came out on top against France in a memorable final on penalties at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

The Azzurri secured top spot in their group after collecting seven points from a possible nine available, beating Ghana and Czech Republic by 2-0 scorelines either side of a 1-1 draw with USA.

Managed by Marcello Lippi, Italy went on to beat Australia, Ukraine and Germany without reply in the knockout rounds to set up a blockbuster final with reigning world champions France, who had previously beaten Spain, Brazil and Portugal in the knockout rounds.

A lively start to the final saw both teams score within the first 20 minutes, but they were eventually forced to settle the most prestigious game in football on penalties.

France were unable to call upon star man Zinedine Zidane in the shootout after he was shown a straight red card for an unforgettable headbutt in extra time. Italy went on to score five perfect penalties and win the shootout 5-3 to lift the World Cup for the first time in 24 years.

Andrea Pirlo, Marco Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Grosso all registered for the Italians in the final shootout, while David Trezeguet missed for France, and that proved to be crucial.

It was very much a team performance from Italy at the competition, as no player scored more than twice for the Italians, with Germany's Miroslav Klose actually securing the golden boot with five goals.

Luca Toni and Materazzi netted twice each for Italy in the finals of the tournament, with their success very much built on a strong work ethic rather than the presence of an outstanding goalscorer.

Italy became world champions for the fourth time on that day, following on from their successes in 1934, 1938 and 1982.

The national team have struggled since their 2006 triumph, though, going out in the group stage in 2010 and 2014, while they incredibly failed to qualify for the finals in both 2018 and 2022.

Italy are currently attempting to book their spot at the 2026 summer tournament.

To celebrate the 19th anniversary of Italy's fourth World Cup triumph, Sports Mole challenges you to name the Azzurri's squad from the 2006 tournament.

Written by
Oliver Thomas