World Cup country profile: Italy
Italy have a proud World Cup pedigree having won the tournament four times, but after crashing out in the first round in 2010 the Azzurri will be desperate to make amends when they travel to Brazil. Coach Cesare Prandelli and his team successfully negotiated a potentially tricky qualifying group with ease, remaining undefeated against Denmark, Czech Republic and Bulgaria to qualify with games to spare. In Brazil, they again face a tough task, having been drawn with England, Uruguay and Costa Rica in one of the tougher looking first round groups. 2006 World Cup winners Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo remain important figures in the Italy team, while neutrals will be helping to see the always entertaining Mario Balotelli feature in Brazil. What a finish that was from Mario Balotelli!
