Italy men's national volleyball team

The Italy men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. The national team is controlled by the Italian Volleyball Federation, the governing body for Volleyball in Italy. It is one of the most successful national teams in the history of volleyball, having won four World Championships (1990, 1994, 1998 and 2022), seven European Championships, one World Cup (1995) and eight World League (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2000). Italy is the reigning World champion, having won 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship.

Italy

Nickname(s)	Gli Azzurri (The Blues)
Association	Federazione Italiana Pallavolo (in Italian)
Confederation	CEV
Head coach	Ferdinando De Giorgi
FIVB ranking	5 (as of 8 January 2025)
Uniforms
Home Away Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances	13 (First in 1976)
Best result	(1996, 2004, 2016)
World Championship
Appearances	19 (First in 1949)
Best result	(1990, 1994, 1998, 2022)
World Cup
Appearances	8 (First in 1989)
Best result	(1995)
European Championship
Appearances	29 (First in 1948)
Best result	(1989, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2021)
federvolley.it
Honours Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 3 3 World Championship 4 1 0 World Cup 1 3 1 World Grand Champions Cup 1 1 2 World League 8 3 4 Nations League 0 0 0 European Championship 7 5 3 Universiade 3 1 5 Mediterranean Games 7 2 2 Goodwill Games 1 0 0 Total 32 19 20 Medal record Olympics 1996 Atlanta Team 2004 Athens Team 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team 1984 Los Angeles Team 2000 Sydney Team 2012 London Team World Championship 1990 Brazil 1994 Greece 1998 Japan 2022 Poland/Slovenia 1978 Italy World Cup 1995 Japan 1989 Japan 2003 Japan 2015 Japan 1999 Japan World Grand Champions Cup 1993 Japan 2017 Japan 2005 Japan 2013 Japan World League 1990 Osaka 1991 Milan 1992 Genoa 1994 Milan 1995 Rio de Janeiro 1997 Moscow 1999 Mar del Plata 2000 Rotterdam 1996 Rotterdam 2001 Katowice 2004 Rome 1993 São Paulo 2003 Madrid 2013 Mar del Plata 2014 Florence European Championship 1989 Sweden 1993 Finland 1995 Greece 1999 Austria 2003 Germany 2005 Italy/Serbia and Montenegro 2021 Poland/Czech Republic/Estonia/Finland 1991 Germany 2001 Czech Republic 2011 Austria/Czech Republic 2013 Denmark/Poland 2023 Bulgaria/Israel/Italy/North Macedonia 1948 Italy 1997 Netherlands 2015 Bulgaria/Italy Universiade 1970 Turin 2019 Naples 2021 Chengdu 1997 Sicilly 1983 Edmonton 1985 Kobe 1987 Zagreb 1995 Fukuoka 2005 Izmir Mediterranean Games 1959 Lebanon 1983 Casablanca 1991 Athens 2001 Tunis 2009 Pescara 2013 Mersin 2018 Tarragona 1963 Naples 1975 Algiers 1987 Latakia 2022 Oran Goodwill Games 1990 Seattle

Result history

In 1989, Julio Velasco was hired to coach the Italian National Men's Team. He immediately led them to a gold medal at the European Championships in 1989, which his team won twice more in 1993 and 1995. The team also won a silver medal at the World Cup in 1989. He de-emphasized the specialization trend of the 1980s. He emphasized the concept of the “square”, team unity where the team was better than the sum of its players. He was meticulous, well prepared and very demanding, but he knew how to win. Starting at the 1990 World Championships and the 1990 Goodwill Games, the Italian National team swept the world volleyball events for five years. They won a gold medal in the World Championships in 1990 and 1994, the World League in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1995, the 1991 Mediterranean Games, and the 1993 Grand Champions Cup. They won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. Julio Velasco left the Italian National Men's Team in 1996. Velasco in 1989-1996 created Golden Team with Players such as Zorzi, Andrea Gardini, Giani, Bernardi, Gravina, Bracci, Tofoli, Lucchetta, Papi, Pasinato and Meoni.^[1]

Olympic Games

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1964	Did not qualify
1968
1972
1976	1st round	8th	5	0	5	2	15	Squad
1980	1st round	9th	5	2	3	5	11	Squad
1984	Semifinals	Bronze	6	4	2	14	7	Squad
1988	1st round	9th	7	4	3	13	13	Squad
1992	Quarterfinals	5th	7	5	2	18	8	Squad
1996	Final	Silver	8	7	1	23	5	Squad
2000	Semifinals	Bronze	8	7	1	21	8	Squad
2004	Final	Silver	8	5	3	20	11	Squad
2008	Semifinals	4th	8	5	3	17	14	Squad
2012	Semifinals	Bronze	8	5	3	16	13	Squad
2016	Final	Silver	8	6	2	19	10	Squad
2020	Quarterfinals	6th	6	4	2	14	10	Squad
2024	Semifinals	4th	6	4	2	12	10	Squad
2028	Future events
2032
Total	0 titles	13/16	90	58	32	194	135	—

World Championship

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

World Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1949	1st round	8th	5	2	3	8	9	Squad
1952	Did not qualify
1956	1st round	14th	10	6	4	22	14	Squad
1960	Did not qualify
1962	1st round	14th	11	5	6	19	23	Squad
1966	1st round	16th	11	2	9	9	31	Squad
1970	1st round	15th	11	3	8	23	28	Squad
1974	1st round	19th	11	7	4	24	14	Squad
1978	Final	2nd	10	8	2	24	12	Squad
1982	1st round	14th	10	8	2	24	12	Squad
1986	2nd round	11th	8	3	5	14	18	Squad
1990	Final	1st	7	6	1	18	7	Squad
1994	Final	1st	7	6	1	20	6	Squad
1998	Final	1st	12	11	1	33	7	Squad
2002	Quarterfinals	5th	9	6	3	23	14	Squad
2006	2nd round	5th	11	8	3	28	13	Squad
2010	Semifinals	4th	10	8	2	26	12	Squad
2014	2nd round	13th	9	3	6	14	22	Squad
2018	3rd round	5th	10	8	2	26	11	Squad
2022	Final	1st	7	7	0	21	4	Squad
2025	Qualified							Squad
Total	4 titles	19/21	169	107	62	376	257	—

• 1990 — Gold medal

  Anastasi, Bernardi, Bracci, Cantagalli, De Giorgi, Gardini, Giani, Lucchetta, Martinelli, Masciarelli, Tofoli, Zorzi. Head Coach: Velasco

• 1994 — Gold medal

  Bernardi, Bracci, Cantagalli, Gardini, Giani, De Giorgi, Giretto, Gravina, Papi, Pippi, Tofoli, Zorzi. Head Coach: Velasco

• 1998 — Gold medal

  Bracci, Corsano, Fei, Gardini, Giani, De Giorgi, Gravina, Meoni, Papi, Pasinato, Rosalba, Sartoretti. Head Coach: Bebeto

• / 2022 — Gold medal

  Anzani, Balaso, Bottolo, Galassi, Giannelli, Lavia, Michieletto, Mosca, Pinali, Recine, Romanò, Russo, Sbertoli, Scanferla. Head Coach: De Giorgi

World Cup

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1965	Did not qualify
1969
1977
1981	-	7th	7	1	6	9	18	Squad
1985	Did not qualify
1989	-	2nd	7	6	1	20	5	Squad
1991	Did not qualify
1995	-	1st	11	11	0	33	3	Squad
1999	-	3rd	11	8	3	26	14	Squad
2003	-	2nd	11	9	2	29	8	Squad
2007	Did not qualify
2011	-	4th	11	8	3	28	15	Squad
2015	-	2nd	11	10	1	30	8	Squad
2019	-	7th	11	5	6	14	19	Squad
2023	Did not qualify
Total	1 title	8/14	80	58	22	189	90	-

• 1995 — Gold medal

World Grand Champions Cup

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

World Grand Champions Cup record (Defunct)
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1993	-	1st	5	5	0	15	4	Squad
1997	Did not qualify
2001
2005	-	3rd	5	3	2	11	6	Squad
2009	Did not qualify
2013	-	3rd	5	2	3	12	10	Squad
2017	-	2nd	5	4	1	14	8	Squad
Total	1 title	4/7	20	14	6	52	28	-

• 1993 — Gold medal

  Bracci, Galli, Gardini, Giani, Gravina, Zorzi, Cantagalli, Bellini, Pippi, Pasinato, Bernardi. Head Coach: Velasco

World League

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

World League record (Defunct)
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1990	Final	1st	14	11	3	37	21	Squad
1991	Final	1st	18	16	2	52	16	Squad
1992	Final	1st	18	16	2	50	17	Squad
1993	Semifinals	3rd	22	20	2	62	17	Squad
1994	Final	1st	16	12	4	38	19	Squad
1995	Final	1st	17	14	3	45	19	Squad
1996	Final	2nd	17	14	3	45	19	Squad
1997	Final	1st	17	14	3	47	17	Squad
1998	Final Round	4th	15	7	8	27	26	Squad
1999	Final	1st	16	12	4	42	20	Squad
2000	Final	1st	18	13	5	44	33	Squad
2001	Final	2nd	17	12	5	41	24	Squad
2002	Semifinals	4th	17	14	3	44	19	Squad
2003	Semifinals	3rd	17	10	7	37	27	Squad
2004	Final	2nd	15	9	6	34	22	Squad
2005	1st round	7th	12	6	6	22	26	Squad
2006	2nd round	6th	16	7	9	32	31	Squad
2007	1st round	9th	12	4	8	19	30	Squad
2008	1st round	7th	12	8	4	30	22	Squad
2009	1st round	7th	12	8	4	27	17	Squad
2010	2nd round	6th	14	9	5	35	21	Squad
2011	2nd round	6th	15	11	4	35	18	Squad
2012	1st round	11th	12	5	7	23	28	Squad
2013	Semifinals	3rd	14	10	4	35	23	Squad
2014	Semifinals	3rd	16	9	7	33	25	Squad
2015	2nd round	5th	14	7	7	26	31	Squad
2016	Semifinals	4th	13	7	6	25	20	Squad
2017	1st round	12th	9	2	7	13	23	Squad
Total	8 titles	28/28	425	287	138	1000	631	-

• 1990 Osaka — Gold medal

  Gardini, Margutti, De Giorgi, Tofoli, Masciarelli, Anastasi, Bracci, Bernardi, Cantagalli, Zorzi, Lucchetta, Giazzoli, Pasinato, Petrelli, Martinelli, Loro, Gallia. Head coach: Velasco

• 1991 Milan — Gold medal

  Gardini, Martinelli, Margutti, De Giorgi, Tofoli, Masciarelli, Anastasi, Bracci, Bernardi, Cantagalli, Zorzi, Lucchetta, Giazzoli, Pasinato, Petrelli, Lombardi, Gallia, Galli, Gravina. Head coach: Velasco

• 1992 Genoa — Gold medal

  Gardini, Martinelli, Margutti, De Giorgi, Tofoli, Masciarelli, Galli, Bracci, Bernardi, Cantagalli, Zorzi, Lucchetta, Giani, Giazzoli, Pasinato. Head coach: Velasco

• 1994 Milan — Gold medal

  Gardini, Martinelli, Gravina, De Giorgi, Tofoli, Papi, Sartoretti, Bracci, Bernardi, Cantagalli, Margutti, Pippi, Giani, Bellini, Pasinato, Rinaldi, Fangareggi, Giretto. Head coach: Velasco

• 1995 Rio de Janeiro — Gold medal

  Fangareggi, Rosalba, Gravina, De Giorgi, Botti, Papi, Sartoretti, Verniaghi, Giazzoli, Bonati, Radicioni, Pippi, Giani, Bellini, Pasinato, Bovolenta, Meoni, Giretto. Head coach: Velasco

• 1997 Moscow — Gold medal

  Gardini, Meoni, Gravina, Bendani, Fangareggi, Papi, Giombini, Sartoretti, Casoli, Rosalba, Zlatanov, Pippi, Giani, Bovolenta, Bonati, Patriarca, Bellini. Head coach: de Freitas

• 1999 Mar del Plata — Gold medal

  Vermiglio, Meoni, Mastrangelo, Fei, Papi, Sartoretti, Casoli, Rosalba, Zlatanov, Corsano, Bellini, Bovolenta, Giombini, Molteni. Head coach: Anastasi

• 2000 Rotterdam — Gold medal

  Gardini, Meoni, Gravina, Mastrangelo, Tofoli, Papi, Sartoretti, Bracci, Bernardi, Rosalba, Molteni, Corsano, Giani, Fei, Castellano, Bovolenta, Giombini, Vermiglio. Head coach: Anastasi

Nations League

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Nations League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
2018	Preliminary Round	8th	15	8	7	30	28	Squad
2019	Preliminary Round	8th	15	8	7	31	25	Squad
2020	Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Preliminary Round	10th	15	7	8	28	33	Squad
2022	Final Round	4th	15	11	4	35	16	Squad
2023	Semifinals	4th	15	10	5	33	21	Squad
2024	Quarterfinals	5th	13	9	4	31	17	Squad
2025								Squad
Total	0 title(s)	6/6	90	53	35	188	140	–

European Championship

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1948	-	3rd	5	3	2	11	6	Squad
1950	Did not qualify
1951	1st round	8th	5	2	3	8	9	Squad
1955	1st round	9th	7	5	2	15	8	Squad
1958	1st round	10th	11	8	3	26	19	Squad
1963	1st round	10th	11	8	3	24	15	Squad
1967	Final Round	8th	10	3	7	11	25	Squad
1971	1st round	8th	8	6	2	21	10	Squad
1975	1st round	10th	7	2	5	8	17	Squad
1977	1st round	8th	7	3	4	12	16	Squad
1979	Final Round	5th	7	3	4	13	14	Squad
1981	1st round	7th	7	5	2	15	9	Squad
1983	Final Round	4th	7	4	3	16	16	Squad
1985	Final Round	6th	7	1	6	10	18	Squad
1987	1st round	9th	7	3	4	14	14	Squad
1989	Final	1st	7	6	1	20	7	Squad
1991	Final	2nd	7	6	1	18	7	Squad
1993	Final	1st	7	7	0	21	5	Squad
1995	Final	1st	7	6	1	19	6	Squad
1997	Semifinals	3rd	7	5	2	15	8	Squad
1999	Final	1st	5	4	1	13	5	Squad
2001	Final	2nd	7	4	3	14	10	Squad
2003	Final	1st	7	7	0	21	4	Squad
2005	Final	1st	7	6	1	19	8	Squad
2007	2nd round	6th	6	4	2	14	11	Squad
2009	2nd round	10th	6	2	4	8	12	Squad
2011	Final	2nd	6	4	2	15	8	Squad
2013	Final	2nd	6	4	2	15	9	Squad
2015	Semifinals	3rd	7	5	2	18	7	Squad
2017	Quarterfinals	5th	5	3	2	11	6	Squad
2019	Quarterfinals	6th	7	5	2	16	9	Squad
2021	Final	1st	9	9	0	27	5	Squad
2023	Final	2nd	9	8	1	24	7	Squad
2026								Squad
Total	7 titles	31/32	228	151	77	430	330	-

• 1989 — Gold medal

  Anastasi, Bernardi, Bracci, Cantagalli, De Giorgi, Gardini, Lucchetta, Margutti, Masciarelli, Passani, Tofoli, Zorzi. Head Coach: Velasco

• 1993 — Gold medal

  Bellini, Bracci, Cantagalli, Galli, Gardini, Giani, Gravina, Martinelli, Pasinato, Pippi, Tofoli, Zorzi. Head Coach: Velasco

• 1995 — Gold medal

  Bernardi, Bovolenta, Bracci, Cantagalli, Gardini, Giani, Gravina, Meoni, Papi, Pasinato, Tofoli, Andrea Zorzi. Head Coach: Velasco

• 1999 — Gold medal

  Bracci, Corsano, Gardini, Giani, Giombini, Gravina, Meoni, Mastrangelo, Papi, Rosalba, Sartoretti, Tofoli. Head Coach: Anastasi

• 2003 — Gold medal

  Biribanti, Černič, Cozzi, Fei, Giani, Mastrangelo, Meoni, Papi, Pippi, Sartoretti, Savani, Vermiglio. Head Coach: Montali

• 2005 — Gold medal

  Černič, Cisolla, Corsano, Cozzi, Fei, Łasko, Mastrangelo, Paparoni, Savani, Sintini, Tencati, Vermiglio. Head Coach: Montali

• 2021 — Gold medal

  Anzani, Balaso, Bottolo, Cortesia, Galassi, Giannelli, Lavia, Michieletto, Piccinelli, Pinali, Ricci, Recine, Romanò, Sbertoli. Head Coach: De Giorgi

European Games

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

European Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
2015 Baku	1st round	11th	5	0	5	4	15	Squad
2019 Minsk	Volleyball not held
2023 Kraków
Total	0 titles	1/1	5	0	5	4	15	-

Mediterranean Games

• 1959 — gold medal
• 1963 — silver medal
• 1975 — silver medal
• 1979 — Fourth place
• 1983 — gold medal
• 1987 — bronze medal
• 1991 — gold medal
• 1997 — Fourth place
• 2001 — gold medal
• 2005 — Fifth place
• 2009 — gold medal
• 2013 — gold medal
• 2018 — gold medal
• 2022 — bronze medal
• 2026 — Future event

Goodwill Games

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Goodwill Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL
1986	Did not participate
1990	Final	Champions	5	4	1	14	6
Total	1 titles	1/2	5	4	1	14	6

• 1990 — Gold medal

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The roster was announced on 8 July 2024.^[2]

Head coach: Ferdinando De Giorgi^[3]

• 5 Alessandro Michieletto OH
• 6 Simone Giannelli (c) S
• 7 Fabio Balaso L
• 8 Riccardo Sbertoli S
• 11 Giovanni Sanguinetti MB
• 12 Mattia Bottolo OH
• 14 Gianluca Galassi MB
• 15 Daniele Lavia OH
• 16 Yuri Romanò OP
• 19 Roberto Russo MB
• 23 Alessandro Bovolenta OP
• 31 Luca Porro OH

Coach history

• Pietro Bernardi (1947)
• Angelo Costa (1947-1949)
• Renzo Del Chicca (1949-1953)
• Ivan Trinajstic (1953-1966)
• Josef Kozak (1966-1969)
• Odone Federzoni (1969-1974)
• Odone Federzoni & Josef Kozak (1970)
• Franco Anderlini (1974-1976)
• Adriano Pavlica (1976-1977)
• Edward Skorek (1978 ad interim)
• Carmelo Pittera (1978-1982 + 1988)
• Nino Cuco (1981 ad interim)
• Silvano Prandi (1983-1986)
• Aleksander Skiba (1987)
• Michelangelo Lo Bianco (1988 ad interim)
• Julio Velasco (1988-1996)
• Angelo Frigoni (1990-1991 ad interim - World League)
• Daniele Bagnoli (1992 ad interim - World League)
• Paulo Roberto de Freitas (1996-1998)
• Andrea Anastasi (1998-2002)
• Kim Ho-Chul (2001)
• Gian Paolo Montali (2002-2007)
• Andrea Anastasi (2007-2010)
• Mauro Berruto (2010-2015)
• Gianlorenzo Blengini (2015-2021)
• Antonio Valentini (2021 - Volley Nations League)
• Ferdinando De Giorgi (2021-)

Record attendance

• Table updated to August 12, 2012.

#	Player	Appearances
1	Andrea Giani	474
2	Andrea Gardini	418
3	Luigi Mastrangelo	363
4	Samuele Papi	361
5	Marco Bracci	347
6	Paolo Tofoli	342
7	Luca Cantagalli	330
8	Ferdinando De Giorgi	330
9	Andrea Sartoretti	330
10	Andrea Zorzi	325

Kit providers

The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Italy national volleyball team.

Period	Kit provider
2000–2008	Nike Asics
2008–2021	Asics Armani Errea

Sponsorship

Primary sponsors include: main sponsors like DHL, Kinder (Ferrero SpA), Honda and Mizuno, other sponsors: Santal, Diadora, EthicSport, Reaxing, Crai, Nutrilite, Uliveto and Winform.

Media

Italy's matches and friendlies are currently televised by RAI and Rai Sport.