The Azzurri are soccer royalty. In the hierarchy of the World Cup’s elite, Italy forms a power triumvirate with five-time winner Brazil and four-time winner Germany.
Like Germany, Italy also has four World Cup titles. When Italy fell to Sweden in its playoff to get into the 32-team World Cup field, it was a stunning development in international soccer. Italy’s exclusion from this year’s tournament is its first in 60 years. Perhaps this development was coming. After winning the 2006 World Cup, Italy had failed to get out of the group stage of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.