Serie A

History of Serie A: Tactics, Passion and the Rebirth of Calcio

The league of defensive rigour, monumental tifos and the greatest coaches the game has produced, Serie A was the strongest championship in the world in the 1990s before enduring a deep crisis and a spectacular revival. In May 2026 Inter Milan sealed a resounding domestic double.

1. From Regional Championships to a National Tournament (1898–1945)

Italian football organised itself from 1898, but through regional tournaments followed by play-off rounds. Modern Serie A — a single national round-robin — was introduced in 1929–30 and won by Ambrosiana-Inter. The 1930s belonged to the Juventus of the Quinquennio d'oro, five consecutive titles (1931–1935), and to an Italy side that won two World Cups (1934, 1938). Bologna, meanwhile, shone across Europe. The Second World War suspended the competition in 1943.

2. Il Grande Torino, the Superga Disaster and Milan's Gold (1945–1960)

The post-war years belonged to Il Grande Torino, a legendary side that won five straight titles and supplied the backbone of the national team — until 4 May 1949, when the aircraft bringing the squad home from Lisbon crashed into the hill of Superga, killing all eighteen players aboard. Calcio took years to recover. The 1950s brought a wave of foreign stars: Milan's Swedes (Gren, Nordahl, Liedholm), Argentina's Sívori and Wales's John Charles at Juventus.

3. Grande Inter, Catenaccio and European Dominance (1960–1985)

In the 1960s Helenio Herrera forged a perfect machine at Inter, too often reduced to catenaccio alone: the Grande Inter won two European Cups (1964, 1965) and three scudetti. Nereo Rocco's Milan replied with two European titles of their own (1963, 1969). The 1970s and 1980s were dominated by Giovanni Trapattoni's Juventus, built around Dino Zoff, Gaetano Scirea and three-time Ballon d'Or winner Michel Platini, who delivered the club's first European Cup in 1985 — on the tragic night of Heysel. Napoli then wrote their finest chapter with Diego Maradona, champions in 1987 and 1990.

4. "The Most Beautiful League in the World" (1986–2005)

Arrigo Sacchi's Milan, powered by the Dutch trio of Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard, revolutionised world football with a flat back four, aggressive high pressing and total collective movement, winning back-to-back European Cups (1989, 1990). Fabio Capello succeeded him and produced a run of 58 matches unbeaten between 1991 and 1993. Throughout the 1990s Serie A gathered the finest players on earth — Baggio, Batistuta, Ronaldo, Zidane, Weah, Vieri — and Italian clubs monopolised European finals. Sampdoria (1991) and later Lazio and Roma (2000, 2001) upset the established order.

5. Calciopoli, Crisis and Rebuilding (2006–2019)

In 2006 the Calciopoli scandal struck Italian football head-on: Juventus were relegated to Serie B and stripped of two titles, while Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were penalised. The league lost its lustre, ageing stadiums emptied and broadcast revenues fell behind England and Spain. José Mourinho's Inter salvaged Italian pride with a historic treble in 2010. Juventus, restored to the summit, then strung together nine consecutive scudetti (2012–2020), an all-time record, without ever conquering Europe despite two lost finals.

6. Revival and a New Balance of Power (2020–2025)

The 2020s reshuffled the deck: Milan reclaimed the title in 2022 after eleven years, Napoli ended a thirty-three-year wait in 2023 under Luciano Spalletti, Inter took a twentieth star in 2024, and Napoli triumphed again in 2025 with Antonio Conte. In parallel, Italian clubs became competitive in Europe once more, reaching several continental finals and climbing sharply in the UEFA coefficient.

7. The 2025–26 Season: Inter's Double and Absence from the World Cup

The 124th season of Italian football, played from 23 August 2025 to 24 May 2026, crowned Inter Milan, champions as early as 3 May 2026 with three matches to spare after a 2–0 home win over Parma. It was the twenty-first scudetto in Nerazzurri history. Inter completed the campaign by winning the Coppa Italia, their tenth, beating Lazio 2–0: a full domestic double. Napoli, the defending champions, could not retain their crown.

The European campaign, by contrast, disappointed: Inter were eliminated in the Champions League play-offs by Norway's Bodø/Glimt (5–2 on aggregate) and Juventus by Galatasaray. The heaviest blow came at international level: on 31 March 2026 Italy lost a play-off final on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina and missed a third consecutive World Cup — a first for any former world champion. Four-time winners of the trophy, the Azzurri were the highest-ranked nation absent from the 2026 finals (12th in the FIFA rankings).

The 2026–27 season therefore opens on a double challenge: confirming the clubs' return to the European front rank, and rebuilding a national team deprived of the game's greatest stage. Calcio itself retains what has defined it for a century: tactical intelligence, defensive culture and the incomparable fervour of its curve.