Marcello Lippi was born in Viareggio (Lucca) on 12 April 1948. He enjoyed a long spell in the professional game as a player, with his career starting out with a loan spell at Savona (1969/70), continuing at Sampdoria (nine seasons from 1970 to 1979, seven of which were in Serie A) and Pistoiese, and concluding at Lucchese in the early 1980s.

After hanging up his playing boots, he became a coach. He first became part of the Sampdoria youth setup, while stints at Pontedera, Siena, Pistoiese and Carrarese then followed. In 1989/90, he took charge of Serie A side Cesena, where he would remain until 1991. He then moved to Lucchese, Atalanta and Napoli, qualifying for the UEFA Cup with the latter. His success with the Partenopei attracted the attentions of Juventus, who he joined ahead of the 1994/95 season. He remained at the Bianconeri for five seasons and won the Scudetto (x3), the Coppa Italia (x1), the Supercoppa Italiana (x2) and a European treble consisting of the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1996. After a brief spell at Inter, he returned to Juventus in 2001, leading them to two more league titles and Supercoppe Italiane and also reaching the Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to AC Milan.

On 16 July 2004, he became the Italy Head Coach, replacing Giovanni Trapattoni. He then led the Azzurri to their fourth World Cup triumph, in Germany in 2006. He then left the role but returned two years later for a second spell, which came to an end after the unfortunate World Cup in South Africa. In total, he was in charge for 56 Italy matches, winning 28 and drawing 21 of these.  

On 17 May 2012, he became the coach of Guangzhou Evergrande, where he won the Chinese Super League, the Chinese FA Cup and the AFC Champions League. He then became Head Coach of the Chinese National Team, a role he left in 2019.

Marcello Lippi is one of the stars of the Italian Football Hall of Fame, which he was inducted into in 2011 (category: Italian Coach).