MANAUS, BRAZIL – JUNE 14: Italy players pose for a team photo prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group D match between England and Italy at Arena Amazonia on June 14, 2014 in Manaus, Brazil. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Tuesday night’s elimination against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup play-off final means that there is now only one Italy player currently in Serie A that has previously featured in the World’s biggest international tournament.
Italy were beaten on penalties in Zenica on Tuesday night after being held level at 1-1 after 120 minutes of football. The Azzurri played with 10 men for 80 minutes after Alessandro Bastoni’s red card just before the end of the first half.
This is the third time in a row that Italy have fallen short at the World Cup play-off stage. As fans know all too well, the Azzurri have not qualified for the final tournament since 2014 and have not won a World Cup knock-out match since beating France in the final in 2006.
Who is the only current Serie A player that has played for Italy at a World Cup?
This means that as things stand, there is only one Italian in Serie A that has previously played at a World Cup: Inter defender Matteo Darmian.
The now 36-year-old played the full 90 minutes in all three of Italy’s group stage matches in 2014, against England, Costa Rica and Uruguay, but Cesare Prandelli’s side did not qualify for the round of 16 after finishing the group with just one win and three points to their name.
There was one other current Serie A player in Italy’s 2014 World Cup squad, Juventus goalkeeper Mattia Perin, but he did not play in any matches at the tournament given that Gianluigi Buffon was the captain of the side.
There are five other members of Italy’s 2014 World Cup who are still active, but are not currently playing in Serie A. They are Mario Balotelli of Al-Ittifaq in the United Arab Emirates, Salvatore Sirigu of Palermo in Serie B, Ciro Immobile of Paris FC, Lorenzo Insigne of Pescara in Serie B and Marco Verratti of Al-Duhail in Qatar.
