Italy: "Our football must once again earn respect and consideration" (Giovanni Malago, FIGC)

"Our football must once again earn respect and consideration. Now is the time to step up a gear, all together," Giovanni Malago, president of the FIGC, said at the Lega Serie B general assembly in Milan (ITA) on 9 September 2026.

"We must invest in young players and give ourselves the means to restore prestige and success to Italian football. This is why we are already working very hard with Roberto Mancini (head coach), Claudio Ranieri (technical director) and Gianfranco Zola (in charge of development within Club Italia). We need a very careful approach to costs, but also the ability to find new resources. A major challenge lies ahead and we will tackle it together, as a team," the president of the Italian Football Federation added.

Four-time World Cup winners (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006), Italy failed to qualify for the last three editions of the competition (2018 in Russia, 2022 in Qatar and 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico).

Paolo Bedin, president of the Lega Serie B, presented Giovanni Malago with a replica of the Nexus Cup, the Serie BKT trophy, highlighting the role…