One of the most traditional football teams on the planet, Italy seeks to return to competing in a World Cup in 2026 and will have its last chance to qualify for the North American World Cup this Tuesday (31), when it has a direct confrontation against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica. And inspiration for the “Azzurra” could come from motorsport, where Italians have been standing out.
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In Formula 1, Andrea Kimi Antonelli won his first two career GPs, in China and Japan, and became, last Sunday, the first Italian to lead the Drivers’ Championship since Giancarlo Fisichella, who won the first round of the 2005 season in Australia. The Mercedes driver also positions himself as a candidate for a title that hasn’t gone to an Italian since 1953, with Alberto Ascari.
Italian dominance also occurs in MotoGP, where Marco Bezzecchi has a dominant start to the championship. The rider, who competes for the also Italian Aprilia, won all three rounds of the year, held in Thailand, Brazil, and the United States, and leads the standings. Considering the last races of 2025, there are already five consecutive first places.
Still in the world of two wheels, Nicolo Bulega leads another important championship: the Superbike World Championship, which features prepared production motorcycles. The Ducati rider won all six races held this year, including two triple-headers: in Australia and Portugal, and already has a large lead in the championship standings.
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Good momentum off the tracks too
If Italy is the country of fashion in motorsport, it can be said that the momentum is also positive in other sports, most notably in Tennis. Last Sunday, Jannik Sinner won the Miami Open, securing the “Sunshine Double,” achieved when the same tennis player wins in Miami and Indian Wells in the same year. Sinner is number 2 in the ATP rankings, the Association of Tennis Professionals.
Of course, none of this takes the field, but there is no doubt that Antonelli, Bezzecchi, Bulega, and Sinner are inspirations for the four-time world champion national team to seek a World Cup spot that hasn’t come since 2014. The team led by Gennaro Gattuso will have 90 (or 120 minutes) to not clash with the good sporting momentum of Italians in other disciplines.
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