This is a collection of players whose talent, for one reason or another, was never fully recognised by the Italian national team. Careers cut short by injury, illness or lack of application, sometimes they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
They remain cult heroes, elusive figures (for the most part) who, despite failing to gain international recognition, can be proud of what they achieved on the pitch.
Today we celebrate the 10 greatest players snubbed by the Azzurri!
10. Roberto Baggio (1988-2004: 56 caps, 27 goals)
A player with 56 caps shouldn’t really feature on a list of this sort, but when the player in question is one Roberto Baggio, then it’s justified. Il Divin Codino, arguably the greatest Italian No.10 of all time, was criminally underused and ignored by his country.
“Baggio was a Brazilian disguised as an Italian,” said his former teammate Carlos Dunga. The general consensus has always been that Baggio would’ve earned significantly more caps had he been born Brazilian or Argentine, where artists were fully appreciated and not discarded.
Baggio the player was constantly at odds not just with coaches of the Azzurri throughout his career, but calcio’s ideology of the time. Baggio couldn’t have cared a less for tactical schemes and defensive work and this is why his number of caps never matched his talent.
Arrigo Sacchi tolerated him through gritted teeth during his reign yet dumped him the moment he could; Cesare Maldini recalled him for France’ 98 because he couldn’t be ignored; Dino Zoff and Giovanni Trapattoni did due to wrong club choices and ageing legs.
Baggio famously never played in a European Championship and ended his career with fewer caps than the likes of Pippo Inzaghi, Ciro Immobile and Alberto Gilardino. Just let that sink in.
9. Francesco Toldo (1995-2004, 28 caps)
Any number of goalkeepers could have made this list as Italy, over the years, has been blessed with some truly world class goalkeepers, many of whom made little impact on the international stage.
Gigi Buffon’s three decade long career as the best goalkeeper in the world kept a raft of talented players out, any one of whom could, in other circumstances, have earned a bucketful of caps.
One of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, Francesco Toldo won 5 scudetti, 5 Coppe Italia, 4 Supercoppe Italiane and a UEFA Champions League.
At the national level, he could never really dislodge Buffon, and it’s something of a miracle that he earned 28 caps while playing understudy to the great Gigi.
8. Enrico Chiesa (1996-2001: 22 caps, 7 goals)
Enrico Chiesa earned 22 caps for the Italian national team, scoring 7 goals between 1996 and 2001. His international career coincided with a period of strong competition among Italian forwards, limiting his opportunities. Chiesa’s style of play was marked by versatility and goal-scoring prowess.
Primarily a forward, he possessed excellent technique, a powerful shot, and clinical finishing abilities. Chiesa’s ability to play across the attacking line added to his tactical value.
Despite his relatively limited international appearances, he made a significant impact during Italy’s Euro 1996 campaign, contributing crucial goals.
Injuries and competition for places may have curtailed his national team involvement, but Chiesa’s club performances, notably with Parma and Fiorentina, showcased his talent and earned him recognition in Serie A.
7. Attilio Lombardo (1990-1997: 18 caps, 3 goals)
International recognition evaded the high-octane winger who reached the pinnacle of domestic and European football at Sampdoria, Juventus and Lazio.
Lombardo scored on his Italy debut in a four goal European Championship qualification away win over Cyprus in December 1990.
Yet he never played for the Azzurri in a major competition despite his club success.
Lombardo lined up alongside Scudetto winning Samp team-mates Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli for Italy on only two occasions – upset defeats at Norway and Bulgaria in 1991. The strong running wide man recorded assists in both games but like Doria and Lazio team-mate Mancini was not deemed good enough to become a regular for his country.
6. Salvatore “Toto” Schillachi (1990-1991: 16 caps, 7 goals)
The winner of a Golden Ball (for best player in the 1990 World Cup) and a Golden Boot (for highest goal scorer in the 1990 World Cup) may not seem like a contender for a player to accumulate so few caps, but remarkably Salvatore “Toto” Schillachi, icon of Italia 90, won just 16 caps for the national team.
Having played most of his football with Messina in Italian lower leagues, in 1989 he earned a transfer to a Juventus side that was still finding its way after the Trapattoni era.
Toto made an immediate impact for Juventus, scoring 15 goals in 30 appearances in his first season for the Torino giants, earning him the nickname Totò-Gol. With a World Cup on home soil that summer, It also earned him a call up for the national squad.
As understudy to Andrea Carnevale, he came on in the second half of Italy’s opening game against Austria. Within four minutes, he had broken the deadlock!
With the exception of the next group stage game against the USA, which he started, he scored in every single match Italy played in the tournament.
He’d spend another couple of seasons at Juventus, followed by a two-season spell at Inter, but nothing would live up to those “magical nights” of Italia 90.
5. Roberto Mussi (1993-1996, 11 caps, 0 goals)
It seems unlikely that a player who started in a World Cup Final would feature in a list of players who should have won more caps for their country, but it’s true of Roberto Mussi.
Italy’s penalty shoot-out defeat against Brazil at USA ’94 remains one of Mussi’s only 11 caps for the Azzurri, a remarkably low tally for one of the best full-backs of his generation.
An astute reader of the game, Mussi blended an impeccable sense of positioning with the kind of attacking abilities that made him a modern full-back long before defenders bombing down the flanks became a common sight in football.
That his international opportunities were so limited simply stems from the fact he vied for a spot with the likes of Mauro Tassotti and Antonio Benarrivo at a time when Italian football was blessed with truly world class defenders.
One of Arrigo Sacchi’s pupils, Mussi played under the man from Fusignano at Parma and subsequently followed him to AC Milan where he won a Scudetto and a European Cup.
A key figure in Emiliano Mondonico’s Torino side that came within a whisker of winning a maiden European trophy, Mussi won the Coppa Italia with the Granata, before returning to Parma to lift another Coppa Italia and two UEFA Cups.
4. Mauro Tassotti (1992-1994: 7 caps, 0 goals)
There can’t be many as decorated in the domestic game with so few appearances on the international stage as Mauro Tassotti.
He gained only seven Italy caps whilst picking up five Serie A titles and lifting the European Cup three times, captaining Milan in the famous 1994 final in the absence of suspended Franco Baresi.
Tassotti found himself competing against perhaps the greatest pool of defenders an international side have ever had. He surely deserved more international recognition though, having earned his first cap at the age of 32. He played twice at World Cup ‘94 where he picked up an eight-game suspension for an elbow which effectively ended his career with the national team.
3. Gigi Meroni (1966-67: 6 caps, 2 goals)
Torino winger Gigi Meroni lost his life at age 24 amid tragedy and irony. But for a player of his talent, even that does not explain his paucity of international caps – just 6.
In the deeply conformist Italy of the early 1960s, where the endemic conservative ideology of Christian Democracy was held up as a bastion against international Communism, Meroni represented, at the very least, an oddity and, at most, a danger to society.
An artist, a dandy and a toyboy off the pitch – which, combined with his light-footedness on it, led him to be christened la Farfalla Granata (the maroon butterfly).
The media’s (and coaches’) biggest gripe about Meroni was his hair and beard. The bohemian had refused call ups in the years leading up to the 1966 World Cup when Italy manager Edmondo Fabbri demanded he visit the barber for a trim.
Meroni would eventually feature at the World Cup, playing just once against the USSR. But despite playing no part in the fracas against North Korea, he would still find himself the scapegoat, off the back of yet more spurious accusations about a hair-fuelled bust-up with Fabbri.
That was his last involvement with gli Azzurri, a full 15 months before his tragic and untimely death in 1967.
2. Stefano Borgonovo (1989: 3 gaps, 0 goals)
You may know him for his brave battle against Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). But, many years before, in a previous life, Stefano Borgonovo was a powerful forward that lived his best season at calcio’s top level in 1988-89, when he formed a dynamic, offensive partnership with Roberto Baggio at Fiorentina.
During that season, the so-called B2 scored 29 goals (15 Baggio, 14 Borgonovo) for La Viola. That strong display earned Borgonovo his three caps with the Azzurri of Azeglio Vicini in 1989.
Unfortunately for him, Borgonovo’s playing career coincided with years in which Italy produced so many skilful forwards, including the likes of Gianluca Vialli, Andrea Carnevale andor Aldo Serena.
Borgonovo returned to Milan (he was on loan to Fiorentina) but never again hit the highs of the 1988-89 season.
He passed away in 2013 aged just 49.
1. Francesco Baiano (1991, 2 caps, 0 goals)
Francesco Baiano is best remembered for his stint at Fiorentina and some lovely free kicks at Derby County, but it was the striker’s electric form at Foggia, scoring 38 times in 69 matches, which led to the then 22-year-old’s debut for the Nazionale.
With Italy’s Euro ’92 qualification quest all but over, incoming coach Arrigo Sacchi thrust the Neapolitan into the starting eleven in a must-win game against Norway. With Italy trailing, Baiano was substituted for Fabrizio Rizzitelli who drilled the equaliser but the Norwegians held firm.
Despite being given 20 minutes in the final group game with Cyprus, Baiano’s international career was ended along with Italy’s dodgy qualification campaign. And with Sacchi trying out 89 players during his tenure, Alex Del Piero’s emergence, and Roby Baggio and Pierluigi Casiraghi in his way, Baiano was never given a third cap despite his brilliant Ba-Ba partnership with Gabriel Batistuta at Fiorentina.