History of the Coppa Italia

The Coppa Italia is an annual football tournament for Italian Clubs across different divisions in the country. In 1922, the Italian football federation felt the need for a knock-out style football tournament to kindle the interest among fans. The result was a tournament called Coppa Italia. The first edition was held in 1922 and FC Vado emerged champions. The complex structure of the tournament made it unpopular with the fans, due to which the tournament was subsequently scrapped. However, in 1935 the format of the tournament was revamped, and it received a better reception from the Italian audience. Five rounds of matches were followed by semi-finals and finals at neutral venues. Torino FC was the first team to win the Coppa Italia in its new format.

As fate would have it, a long break transpired again, this time caused by the Second World War. There was no Coppa Italia football from 1944 to 1957. After the war, SS Lazio became the Coppa Italia champions for the first time. The format again changed from a knockout competition to a group stage competition, influenced by the widespread success of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The 80’s and 90’s were the most popular years for the Coppa Italia as fans thronged the stadiums to watch their favourite soccer teams. In terms of success for different teams, AS Roma leads the pack along with Juventus by winning 9 Coppa Italia trophies till date. Fiorentina is a distant third with six titles, while Inter Milan has won only five Coppa Italia trophies; unable to replicate their success in the Serie-A.

Previous Coppa Italia season(s)

In the 2007–08 season, the number of participating teams reduced drastically to 42 and only teams from the Serie A and Serie B were allowed to participate. In the following season, the format went back to its older form which saw 78 participating teams including teams from the lower divisions. In the 2007–08 Coppa Italia final, Inter Milan and AS Roma squared off against each other for the fourth consecutive season. AS Roma won the game 2-1. The 2008-09 Coppa Italia final showcased some exciting football with a penalty shootout finish. The two teams in the fray were Lazio and Sampdoria who after 120 minutes of exhilarating football were tied 1-1. At the end of the penalty shootout, Lazio held their nerve to win the game 6-5.