CORNERFLICK
Italy's top flight has begun the 2026/27 season with an unprecedented gap: no Italian player in Serie A has ever appeared on the pitch at a World Cup.
A first since 1930/31
The figures cover all 20 Serie A clubs and show that, for the first time since 1930/31, the league contains no Italian footballer with a World Cup appearance to their name. Italy did not enter the inaugural 1930 tournament, which was the last time this situation arose.
The absence reflects Italy's three successive World Cup misses. The national team last played at the tournament in Brazil in 2014, when Cesare Prandelli's side beat England but lost to Costa Rica and Uruguay to exit in the group stage.
Darmian was the last one left
Matteo Darmian was the last Serie A player to fit the category last season. The former Inter defender played in all three of Italy's matches at the 2014 World Cup, but he is now a free agent and has left the league.
Matthias Perrin was also part of Italy's 2014 squad, but he was only in the 23-man group and did not play. He has since moved from Juventus to Palermo in Serie B, so he would not count under the games-played criterion.
The broader decline is visible in the domestic player pool too. In the opening week of the new season, the number of Italy-eligible players who featured dropped from 99 last season to 95.