My nephew will turn eleven on May 17, just over three weeks later, the 2026 World Cup will begin. He’s a big AC Milan fan, he loves to watch Portugal’s Rafael Leao and America’s Christian Pulisic fly down the wings for one of Italy’s most iconic teams. I was with him the first time he went to San Siro, the stadium where I also grew up, albeit rooting for the team in blue, Inter, instead of the team in red. When I was about his age I experienced one of the most memorable moments of my life when Italy won 2006 World Cup. I remember every single moment of that summer tournament, the games, the semifinal against Germany, the final against France, Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt, not only where I was but the people I was with during every single match. It’s something that really defined me, not just as a soccer fan.
I was only 11, so I had no idea that the final against France would turn out to be the last knockout match the Azzurri would play for 20 years. Since then, the Azzurri were knocked out in the group stages in 2010 and 2014, before failing to qualify in 2018 and 2022. Different players, different managers, same disappointment.
I also remember, when I was in first grade, watching a World Cup match between Italy and Ecuador during the 2002 World Cup, one of the first memories that I have. I can’t believe my nephew, and thousands of children of his generation, never experienced a World Cup and haven’t watched Italy playing in the most important soccer tournament in the world. This has to end.
Gennaro Gattuso and his players have an enormous responsibility on their shoulders, but it’s not their fault that we are where we are. Italy and the Italian Serie A are no longer the best league and one of the best soccer nations in the world. We see that happening every single season. In 2018, when Gianpiero Ventura’s Azzurri failed to win against Sweden in the playoff ahead of the 2018 World Cup, it was the first time the whole country understood that. Despite the disappointing result, Roberto Mancini was able to turn things around and won an unforgettable 2020 UEFA Euro tournament, played a year late due to COVID, led by the experience and the charisma of the iconic Gianluca Vialli as part of the staff.
It was a symbolic win, coming as it did a few months after the end of the COVID-19 outbreak, a challenging moment for millions of people around the world. There was magic in the air that carried the team to something that seemed impossible, but it didn’t last. A few months later the Azzurri were eliminated by North Macedonia in the World Cup playoffs and Mancini left the national team.
After Mancini, Luciano Spalletti’s management didn’t bring the expected results, and his relationship with the national team never clicked in the right direction, which also led to another setback with the Round of 16 elimination against Switzerland at the 2024 Euros. Spalletti tried to continue his work until the 2026 World Cup, but only a few months later the Italian FA decided to appoint Gattuso as the new head coach. The 2006 World Cup winner was considered an ideal candidate, not specifically for his coaching background, but because he could bring back the right mentality and sense of belonging for a national team that seemed lost.
The 2006 Italy coach Marcello Lippi, a mentor for Gattuso, wrote a message to La Gazzetta dello Sport, one that feels like it was not only for the country both for the nation as a whole.
“I hug you, Rino. You were one of my best pupils, we won a World Cup together, we were a team. On the touchline, you remind me so much of myself: in your character, in your relationship with the players, in your vision. You remind me of… Lippi. You deserve the best. You deserve to qualify for the immense passion you have always poured into everything you do — on the pitch, as a coach, in life. The very best of luck, dear colleague. You have a fine squad and you will do everything in your power not to miss this appointment that has been missing from our lives for too long. We are all with you and we go to the World Cup together. We will make it.”
This sentiment has also been echoed in recent weeks by many voices. Genoa coach and 2006 World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi emphasized that “the whole country should stand with Gattuso.” Similarly, Italy internationals, including captain Gianluigi Donnarumma, Francesco Pio Esposito, Sandro Tonali, and Federico Dimarco, have reinforced this message in their recent interviews. They are all fully aware of the significance of this week and what it represents for the entire nation.
There is a classic quote from an Italian commentator and storyteller, Federico Buffa, who said something really powerful about the link between time and the World Cup. “The World Cup has marked the rhythms of our lives, and will mark those of generations to come.”
That is why this week feels so defining for Italian soccer and for the side led by Gattuso. It’s not about Italy’s status, nor about the Azzurri’s chances of lifting the trophy. It’s about something even more important: creating the kind of memories that stay with you forever, for those who don’t have them yet, like my nephew, and for all those still waiting for their first World Cup to remember.
