Greatest Italian Football Players of All Time
The greatest Italian football players in history — ranked by career achievements, honours and legacy.
ItalianAll Italian Football Athletes
Browse all 21 italian football athletes in our database.
Italian
Alessandro Del Piero
Forward/Attacking Midfielder
Italian football legend and attacking midfielder/forward who captained Juventus for over a decade an…
Italian
Alessandro Nesta
Centre Back
One of the most elegant defenders in football history, whose grace and reading of the game defined A…
Italian
Andrea Pirlo
Deep-Lying Playmaker
Italian football midfielder and manager, renowned as one of the greatest deep-lying playmakers of al…
Italian
Fabio Cannavaro
Centre Back
Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning captain and Ballon d'Or winner — one of the finest defenders of his g…
Italian
Federico Chiesa
Winger / Forward
Explosive Italian forward whose directness and ability to score in big moments made him a hero of Eu…
Italian
Filippo Inzaghi
Forward
The ultimate poacher — a predatory striker who lived on the shoulder of the last defender and became…
Italian
Francesco Totti
Forward/Attacking Midfielder
Francesco Totti was born in Rome in 1976, grew up a Roma supporter and spent his entire 25-year prof…
Italian
Franco Baresi
Centre Back/Sweeper
AC Milan's imperious sweeper and Italy captain — arguably the greatest defensive organiser the game …
Italian
Gennaro Gattuso
Midfielder
The ultimate midfield warrior — a ferociously competitive battler who protected AC Milan's defence w…
Italian
Gianfranco Zola
Forward/Attacking Midfielder
The little magician — voted Chelsea's greatest ever player by the fans who watched him.…
Italian
Gianluigi Buffon
Goalkeeper
Italy's World Cup-winning goalkeeper and Juventus's towering presence in goal across three decades —…
Italian
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Goalkeeper
The Euro 2020 Golden Glove winner who debuted at 16 — Italy's most important goalkeeper since Buffon…
Italian
Lorenzo Insigne
Winger / Forward
Italian forward who captained Napoli to Coppa Italia glory and was instrumental in Italy's Euro 2020…
Italian
Marco Verratti
Midfielder
Diminutive Italian maestro whose close control and passing in tight spaces made him one of the fines…
Italian
Mario Balotelli
Forward
Supremely talented but unpredictable Italian striker whose brilliance and controversy made him one o…
Italian
Nicolò Barella
Midfielder
Dynamic Italian box-to-box midfielder whose energy, technique and leadership have made him one of Eu…
Italian
Paolo Maldini
Left Back/Centre Back
Paolo Cesare Maldini was born in Milan in 1968, the son of AC Milan captain Cesare Maldini, and join…
Italian
Roberto Baggio
Forward/Attacking Midfielder
The Divine Ponytail — Italy's 1994 World Cup Golden Boot winner whose missed penalty in the final de…
Italian
Roberto Mancini
Forward/Manager
Italian football player and manager who won Serie A with Sampdoria and Lazio as a player, then led M…
Italian
Salvatore Schillaci
Centre Forward
Toto Schillaci — the most celebrated one-tournament wonder in football history who came from nowhere…
Italian
Stephan El Shaarawy
Forward / Winger
Exciting Italian-Egyptian forward nicknamed 'Il Faraone' who burst onto the scene at AC Milan before…