From its inception in 1910 to the present day, 113 years of history, Italy’s national team has been led by a coaching commission on 26 occasions, in which a group of 2 to 5 figures have been responsible for the selection, preparation and tactics for a tournament. On the other hand, the team has been led by a sole figure on 21 occasions, in which this responsibility is placed entirely on the head coach and his staff. These are referred to as either a Coaching Commission or a Head Coach. In May 1910, for the first match against France, the federal president, Luigi Bosisio chose 5 figures: Umberto Meazza, Alberto Crivelli, Gianni Camperio, Giuseppe Gama and Agostino Recalcati. Interestingly, they were all referees. 

 

HEAD COACHES: RANKING, POINTS AND AVERAGE POINTS
COACH	POINTS	MATCHES	AVERAGE POINTS	W	D	L	GF	GA
POZZO	206	95	2,16	63	17	15	233	127
SACCHI	113	53	2,13	34	11	8	90	36
MANCINI	126	61	2.06	37	15	9	123	45
FABBRI	60	29	2,06	18	6	5	63	18
VICINI	111	54	2,05	32	15	7	76	24
TRAPATTONI	87	44	1,97	25	12	7	68	30
CONTE	49	25	1,96	14	7	4	34	21
VENTURA	31	16	1,93	9	4	3	27	13
DONADONI	44	23	1,91	13	5	5	35	22
VALCAREGGI	104	54	1,90	28	20	6	96	43
MALDINI	38	20	1,90	10	8	2	30	13
LIPPI	105	56	1,87	28	21	7	83	47
RANGONE	43	24	1,79	12	7	5	68	45
ZOFF	40	23	1,73	11	7	5	34	19
CARCANO	10	6	1,66	3	1	2	13	13
BEARZOT	146	88	1,65	40	26	22	115	84
PRANDELLI	89	56	1,58	23	20	13	81	58
FONI	29	19	1,52	9	2	8	25	29
FERRARI G.	16	11	1,45	4	4	3	26	17
MEAZZA	16	15	1,06	4	4	7	20	27

Until the Second World War, the National Team was always managed by a group of directors, often referees, considered by clubs to be impartial. Until 1948, Vittorio Pozzo was the only man with enough charisma and esteem in Italian football, players and managers, to guide the Azzurri alone, winning all possible competitions on the way. 

It was only at the beginning of the 1960s that the evolution towards a modern coaching organisation took place: from Viani, with the exceptions of Herrera - Valcareggi post-World Cup '66 and Bernardini - Bearzot in the mid-1970s, the post of head coach was strengthened.

In these 113 years of Azzurri history, Enzo Bearzot was the longest-standing head coach, with 9 years and 8 months (8 October 1977- 7 June 1986). 1982 world champions (3 appearances at the tournament, 1 appearance at the Euros in 1980). It should be added that his tenure on the Azzurri bench should be extended to 10 years and 9 months (from 27 September 1975) if you include the 16 matches he served in as coach under the supervision of Technical Director Fulvio Bernardini (sole coach from September '74 to June '75). This makes a total of 88 matches as head coach and 104 as head coach/ coach. 

Behind Bearzot is Vittorio Pozzo: for 9 years and 1 month across three stretches between 1912 and 1948 with a total of 95 matches (97 if you include the 2 matches as part of the commission with Mauro, Cali’, U. Meazza, G. Milano and Campi between February and March 1921), the most in the National Team’s history. Pozzo, moreover, was also the most successful Azzurri coach: two world cups (1934 and 1938) and a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics. 

 In third place is Ferruccio Valcareggi (7 years and 7 months, the first four matches together in Helenio Herrera), between 1966 and 1974, with the 1968 European Championship victory and second place in the 1970 Mexico World Cup. Roberto Mancini resigned after 5 years and 20 days or 1846 total days as head coach, from 28 May 2018 (Italy - Saudi Arabia) to 18 June 2023 (Netherlands - Italy). Calculating from the day of his appointment (14 May 2018) to his resignation (13 August 2023), this becomes 1915 days. With 61 matches managed, he is third in Azzurri history in terms of matches on the bench. 

In order of length of tenure as coach, it follows: Azeglio Vicini (5 years from October 1986 to October 1991 with 54 matches); Arrigo Sacchi (5 years, from November 1991 to November 1996 with 53 matches and 2nd place at the 1994 World Cup in the USA) ; Marcello Lippi (4 years and 56 matches in two stretches between 2004 and 2006 and between 2008 and 2010), orchestrator of the last World Cup triumph in 2006 in Germany; Cesare Prandelli (4 years and 56 matches from 2010 to 2014), who guided the Azzurri to 2nd place in the 2012 European Championship and 3rd place in the Confederations Cup in Brazil in 2014.