Mario Balotelli was born in Palermo on August 12, 1990. He was brought up in the Inter youth teams, with whom he made his Serie A debut at the age of 17, on December 16 2007. He won six trophies in three seasons with the Nerazzurri: Three Scudetti, a Coppa Italia, an Italian Super Cup, and a Champions League. In the summer of 2010, he tried a new experience in England with Manchester City, winning the 2010/11 English FA Cup, the 2011/12 Premier League and the 2012 Community Shield. He returned to Serie A in January 2013 with AC Milan then, on 25 August 2014, he flew across the Channel again to join the ranks of Liverpool, then after a further spell at AC Milan, he moved on to Nice, where he scored 33 goals in 33 games. In January 2019 he arrived at Marseille, with whom he bagged eight goals in 13 appearances. In the last two seasons, he has played for Brescia and Monza, while next season he will play in Turkey with Adana Demirspor.

His debut for the senior National Team was also an early one, taking place at the age of 19, on 10 August 2010, in the friendly against Ivory Coast played in London. A year later came the joy of his first Azzurri goal, on 11 November 2011, in a friendly against Poland. He played under Prandelli at the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine, where his goals helped Italy reach the final against Spain. With three goals he was the tournament’s joint-top scorer along with five other players, the first Italian to accomplish this in the history of the national team. His contribution was also important during qualifying for the 2014 World Cup: On 16 October 2012, he scored at San Siro against Denmark, and then repeated this on 26 March 2013, bagging a brace in Malta. He also starred in the Confederations Cup that same year, where he confirmed himself as the Azzurri's top scorer with two goals. A year later, he was part of the squad that travelled to Brazil, where he scored once, against England.

His goal tally for the National Team stands at 14, in 36 appearances.