Italy led by Roberto Mancini graduated champion of Europe on 11 July against England. A night that the fans will never forget. The coach, however, stressed that the group must be able to banish this memory from their minds. The tension must remain very high in view of the World Cup.
The first two challenges post Euro 2020 did not give the expected results, with Italy limited to two draws, respectively against Bulgaria e Switzerland. The team, however, managed, net of some changes, not to lose its compactness and above all not to suffer defeats. The two draws, in fact, add up to a series of 34 other games. Adding everything together, there is a historical record, which is impressive. Something absolutely unimaginable until a few years ago. Just think of the disappointments in the post-2006 World Cup and the lack of participation in the World Cup, which is still burning. Italy is back and is ready to make its voice heard in Qatar.
Italy unbeaten, what a record
On the pitch against Switzerland, it is impossible to go beyond 0-0, with Jorginho wasting a great chance for the advantage from a penalty kick. That was enough, however, to win a historic record. No national team had ever managed to reach altitude 36 consecutive games without defeat.
The previous record was held by Brazil and Spain. A long journey through a pandemic that has brought the world of sport to its knees (and beyond, of course). A constant growth, on the pitch and in training, which saw the initial whistle of this record hunt on 10 October 2018, five months after the new coach took office.
Since then the results have not been lacking, with a qualification for Euro 2020 obtained with 100% victories. A tournament that Mancini dreamed of being able to win. He was the only one to speak in this sense at the beginning of his adventure on the bench. There was a lot of skepticism in the newspapers but he believed in it and managed to accomplish a sporting miracle. We are European champions again.
In the streak, which could extend further, we got 29 wins and seven draws, scoring 88 goals and conceding 12. The record was set by Brazil after the triumph at the 1994 World Cup. Subsequently Spain only managed to equal it after Euro 2008. So when did Italy's last defeat go back? On 10 September 2018, when André Silva scored the decisive goal in favor of Portugal in the Nations League.
Record-breaking lefties: all matches
- Italy-Ukraine 1-1
- Poland-Italy 0-1
- Italy-Portugal 0-0
- Italy-USA 1-0
- Italy-Finland 2-0
- Italy-Liechtenstein 6-0
- Greece-Italy 0-3
- Italy-Bosnia Herzegovina 2-1
- Armenia 1-3 Italy
- Finland 1-2 Italy
- Italy-Greece 2-0
- Liechtenstein-Italy 0-5
- Bosnia Herzegovina-Italy 0-3
- Italy-Armenia 9-1
- Italy-Bosnia Herzegovina 1-1
- Netherlands-Italy 0-1
- Italy-Moldova 6-0
- Poland-Italy 0-0
- Italy-Holland 1-1
- Italy-Estonia 4-0
- Italy-Poland 2-0
- Bosnia Herzegovina-Italy 0-2
- Italy-Northern Ireland 2-0
- Bulgaria-Italy 0-2
- Lithuania-Italy 0-2
- Italy-San Marino 7-0
- Italy Czech Republic 4-0
- Italy-Turkey 3-0
- Italy-Switzerland 3-0
- Italy-Wales 1-0
- Italy-Austria 2-1 aet
- Italy-Belgium 2-1
- Italy-Spain 1-1 (4-2 dcr)
- Italy-England 1-1 (3-2 dcr)
- Italy-Bulgaria 1-1
- Switzerland-Italy 0-0
Featured photo source: Italy - instagram.com/mrmancini10
