Interisti at the World Cup: stories of champions, among records and finals

The World Cup is back, bringing with it thrilling summer nights of football. The tournament, which will be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada, will not feature Italy, but Inter will still be strongly represented with seven players competing for their respective national teams. Each of the Nerazzurri will be chasing the ultimate dream of every footballer: lifting the World Cup trophy. The Inter representatives are Lautaro Martinez (Argentina), Marcus Thuram (France), Manuel Akanji (Switzerland), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Petar Sucic (Croatia), Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), and Ange-Yoan Bonny (Ivory Coast). Inter players and the World Cup, a story that starts in 1934 and is full of anecdotes and key moments. There are world champions, there are scorers in the finals, there are unbeaten records, unique statistics.

The 23rd edition of the World Cup will take place across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The very first tournament in 1930 featured 13 national teams, but Italy were not among them, meaning no Inter players took part in that historic inaugural edition.

From that point on, however, Nerazzurri players have often made their mark on the competition, starting with the 1934 and 1938 editions, both won by Italy with the contribution of several Inter players, above all Giuseppe Meazza.

In fact, the call-ups of Attilio Allemandi, Virginio Castellazzi, Luigi Demaria and Meazza by head coach Vittorio Pozzo for the 1934 World Cup represent the first time Inter players were selected for a World Cup. Italy went on to lift the then-World Cup (the Jules Rimet Trophy) in 1934 and repeated the feat in 1938, when, alongside Meazza, Giovanni Ferrari, Pietro Ferraris, Ugo Locatelli and Renato Olmi were also called up. That brings the total number of Inter World Cup winners to eight, with Meazza captaining Italy and lifting the trophy in France. Meazza, Inter’s all-time leading goalscorer, remains the only Nerazzurri player to have won two World Cups.

126 INTERISTI AT THE WORLD CUP

These eight Azzurri are part of the 126 footballers who, in history, have been summoned to the World Cup while wearing the Nerazzurri colours. A long list, in which Beppe Bergomi stands out, who played four editions of the World Cup between 1982 and 1998 (Lothar Matthäus counts five editions, but only one when he wore the Inter shirt).

Until 1954 it was only Italian players who were called up, then in 1958 Inter only had one representative at the World Cup: in the absence of Italy, there was Lennart Skoglund with Sweden.

There have been 24 nations represented in history by Inter players at the World Cup: Italy, Sweden, Spain, England, Austria, Germany, Holland, Brazil, Chile, France, Nigeria, Argentina, Uruguay, Turkey, Portugal, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Ghana, Cameroon, Colombia, Japan, Algeria and Belgium.

The edition that saw the most Nerazzurri take part in the World Cup was that of 2002. 13 Inter players were called up: Toldo, Materazzi, C. Zanetti, Di Biagio, Vieri (Italy); J. Zanetti (Argentina); Simic (Croatia); Okan, Emre (Turkey); Conceiçao (Portugal); Recoba, Sorondo (Uruguay); Ronaldo (Brazil).

INTERISTI WORLD CHAMPIONS

There are 20 players who have won the World Cup, playing it as Inter players. At club level, the Nerazzurri rank third in terms of the number of world champions, behind Juventus (25) and Bayern Munich (24).

The 20 Nerazzurri champions are: Meazza (1934-1938); Allemandi, Castellazzi, Demaria (1934); Ferrari, Ferraris, Locatelli, Olmi (1938); Bergomi, Marini, Bordon, Oriali, Altobelli (1982); Matthäus, Klinsmann, Brehme (1990); Djorkaeff (1998); Ronaldo (2002); Materazzi (2006); Lautaro (2022).

In 1982, Italy won its third World Cup with five Nerazzurri in the squad, as did happen in 1938. In that edition, Bordon was the only Inter player not to take the field.

(in the photo: Bergomi, Bordon, Marini and Altobelli at the 1982 World Cup)

NERAZZURRI GOALS IN WORLD CUP FINALS

Out of the 20 Inter world champions, there are seven Nerazzurri who have scored in a World Cup final. Four of them then lifting the trophy, three finishing with the disappointment of defeat.

In 1970, the first Nerazzurri goal in a final: Boninsegna's equaliser against Brazil, before the South Americans dominated. In 1982, under the eyes of the President of the Republic, Alessandro Altobelli made Pertini exclaim the famous phrase 'they won't catch us any more' by scoring the momentary 3-0 against Germany, in the Bernabeu final that ended 3-1. For Bearzot's Italy a triumph in the sign of Paolo Rossi, with five Nerazzurri champions, including a very young Bergomi, who touched the last ball of that blessed World Cup.

In 1986 in the final in Mexico that Germany lost to Argentina, Rummenigge scored. Four years later, at Italia 90, the German revenge, with the three Nerazzurri on the pitch: Brehme, Matthäus and Klinsmann. It was a distinctly Nerazzurri final, with Andy Brehme scoring the match winner with a penalty (right-footed, despite being a natural left-footed player) in the 81st minute at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. A penalty that Matthäus did not take, due to a problem with his boot.

In 2002, another Nerazzurri made it on top of the world: Ronaldo, after the disappointment of 1998, took the World Cup by scoring a brace in the final against Germany, sporting a strange and legendary hairstyle.

In 2006, Marco Materazzi was the star man: he scored the equaliser in the final against France, was head-butted by Zidane resulting in a red card for the Frenchman, and scored one of the five penalties in the end that gave the Azzurri their fourth world title.

The list of Nerazzurri goal scorers in World Cup finals stretches all the way until 2018 when Ivan Perisic scored a beautiful goal in Moscow against France, in the final lost by Croatia 4-2.

INTER AT THE WORLD CUP: ALWAYS IN THE FINAL SINCE 1982

Lothar Matthäus holds the record for World Cup appearances, with 25 matches, while Walter Zenga holds the unbeaten record: 518 minutes at Italia 90, from minute one of the first match to the 68th of the semi-final, when he was beaten by Caniggia's header.

The top scorers include Ronaldo in 2002 (8 goals) and Wesley Sneijder (5 goals) in 2010.

But the most incredible fact is that since 1982 in the World Cup finals there has always been at least one Nerazzurri player on the pitch.

• 1982: Bergomi, Altobelli (goal), Oriali

• 1986: Rummenigge (goal)

• 1990: Brehme (goal), Matthäus, Klinsmann

• 1994: Berti

• 1998: Ronaldo, Djorkaeff

• 2002: Ronaldo (2 goals)

• 2006: Materazzi (goal)

• 2010: Sneijder

• 2014: Palacio

• 2018: Brozovic, Perisic (goal)

• 2022: Lautaro