The Italian Football Federation is pursuing an elite-level head coach, with Pep Guardiola identified as a primary target, as part of sweeping changes designed to reverse a dramatic decline in the national team’s fortunes.
Three World Cup Absences
The Azzurri have failed to qualify for the last three FIFA World Cups, missing the 2018, 2022 and 2026 tournaments. For a nation that has lifted the trophy four times, this sequence represents arguably the most significant failure by an international side in recent memory. The scale of this decline has eroded the aura that surrounded Italian football for decades.
Italy entered the most recent European Championships as defending champions but stumbled during the competition. This disappointment followed a pattern of nervy displays that earlier generations would have managed with greater composure. Supporters have watched patience wear thin as each fresh disappointment reopens old wounds.
Generational Transition
A golden generation featuring defenders such as Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci has retired without an equivalent wave of talent emerging to replace them. The domestic game has struggled to produce players at the required level, leaving the national team diminished and vulnerable.
The problems running through Italian football appear deep-rooted and structural rather than temporary setbacks. Officials acknowledge that rebuilding from the bottom up is essential to eventually return the Azzurri to the top table of international competition.
Rebuilding Strategy
The Federation aims to secure qualification for Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup. Securing a serial winner such as Guardiola, or a coach of similar stature, would demonstrate serious intent to overhaul the national set-up from top to bottom rather than continuing to paper over structural weaknesses.
Italy’s situation mirrors that of Germany, who turned to Jürgen Klopp following several years of disappointing results at major tournaments. Both footballing powers are attempting to restore former glories through ambitious managerial appointments.
While qualification for Euro 2028 would represent the bare minimum of progress, officials recognise this would serve only as a starting point. The ultimate measure of success remains competing at the 2030 World Cup and re-establishing Italy among football’s elite nations. The Federation understands that winning back the trust of supporters requires sustained improvement to match the standards expected of a nation with Italy’s history.