Coppa Italia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Coppa Italia

Organising body	Lega Serie A
Founded	1922; 103 years ago (1922)
Region	Italy
Number of teams	44
Qualifier for	UEFA Europa League
Domestic cup(s)	Supercoppa Italiana
Current champions	Bologna (3rd title)
Most successful club(s)	Juventus (15 titles)
Television broadcasters	Mediaset List of international broadcasters

The Coppa Italia (which means Italian Cup) is a yearly football tournament in Italy. It's a big competition where teams play against each other in a knockout style. This means if you lose a game, you're out!

The tournament was first organized by different groups. Since the 2009–10 season, it has been run by Lega Serie A.

Juventus is the most successful club in the Coppa Italia. They have won the cup fifteen times. Roma and Inter Milan are next, with nine wins each. The team that wins the Coppa Italia gets to wear a special badge. This badge is called the coccarda (Italian for cockade). Winning also means they get to play in the UEFA Europa League and the Supercoppa Italiana the next year.

History of the Italian Cup

The Coppa Italia started in 1922. The very first winner was F.C. Vado. Back then, Italian football was a bit messy. There were two main groups of teams, and they didn't always agree.

Because of this, the cup wasn't held regularly at first. After the 1922 tournament, it was cancelled in 1926–27. The competition didn't start again properly until 1935–36.

During World War II, the tournament stopped after the 1942–43 season. It didn't return until 1958. Since then, the Coppa Italia has been played every year.

The current cup trophy and the special coccarda badge were introduced in 1958. The tournament was brought back to help decide which Italian team would play in a new European competition.

Over the years, the rules for the Coppa Italia changed a few times. In 1971, a fixed one-game final was introduced. This final game is always played in Rome.

How the Tournament Works

The Coccarda, a special badge for the winner.

Gianluigi Buffon wearing the Coccarda and the Scudetto in 2016.

The Coppa Italia is a knockout tournament. This means teams are eliminated if they lose. The matches for each round are decided beforehand. Most games are played as a single match. However, the semi-finals are played over two matches.

If a game ends in a draw, extra time is played. If it's still a draw after extra time, the teams have a penalty shoot-out. The winning team gets the trophy. They also get a spot in the UEFA Europa League. If the winning team has already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, their Europa League spot goes to the next best team in the league.

The competition has seven rounds. It starts in August with a preliminary round. This round is for the eight lowest-ranked clubs. Teams from Serie B join in the first round. Some Serie A teams also join in the first round.

The top eight Serie A teams join later in the third round, which happens in winter. By this point, only 16 teams are left. The quarter-finals are played quickly after that. The semi-finals take place in April. The final match is held in May. Since the 2007–08 season, the final is a single game played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Here's a simple breakdown of how teams enter:

• Preliminary Round: 8 teams join (4 from Serie B, 4 from Serie C).
• First Round: 28 teams join (12 from Serie A, 16 from Serie B).
• Second Round: No new teams join; 16 teams from the previous round play.
• Round of 16: 8 top teams from Serie A join.
• Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, Final: No new teams join; teams continue from previous rounds.

Winners by Year

Club Performance: Trophies and Finals

Most Coppa Italia Wins

Coppa Italia Final Appearances

Winning years are in bold.

Player Performance: Top Records

Players with Most Appearances

Rank	Player	Period	Games
1	Franco Baresi	1977–1997	97
2	Roberto Mancini	1981–2001	73
3	Paolo Maldini	1985-2009	72
4	Roberto Baggio	1982–2004	65
	Fausto Salsano	1979–2000
6	Pietro Fanna	1975–1993	59
	Francesco Totti	1992–2017
8	Alessandro Altobelli	1973–1990	55
	Gianluca Vialli	1980–1996
10	Paolo Pulici	1966–1985	54
11	Maurizio Ganz	1985–2007	52
	Nicola Caccia	1987–2005
13	Pietro Paolo Virdis	1973–1991	46
14	Andrea Carnevale	1978–1996	45
	Oscar Damiani	1968–1986
	Daniele Massaro	1979–1989
17	Pietro Anastasi	1966–1981	44
	Giuseppe Giannini	1981–1996 1997–1999
19	Giancarlo Marocchi	1982–2000	43
20	Roberto Boninsegna	1963–1980	42
	Francesco Flachi	1993–2010
	Massimo Agostini	1982–2008
	Giuseppe Incocciati	1981–1995
24	Alessandro Del Piero	1993–2012	41
	Vincenzo D'Amico	1972–1988
	Domenico Caso	1971–1989

Top Goalscorers in Coppa Italia

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Goals
1	Alessandro Altobelli	Brescia, Internazionale, Juventus	56
2	Roberto Boninsegna	Hellas Verona, Varese, Juventus, Cagliari, Internazionale	48
3	Giuseppe Savoldi	Atalanta, Bologna, Napoli	47
4	Gianluca Vialli	Cremonese, Sampdoria, Juventus	43
5	Bruno Giordano	Lazio, Napoli, Ascoli, Bologna	38
	Paolo Pulici	Torino, Udinese, Fiorentina
7	Roberto Baggio	Vicenza, Fiorentina, Juventus, Milan, Bologna, Internazionale, Brescia	36
	Pietro Anastasi	Varese, Juventus, Internazionale, Ascoli
9	Roberto Mancini	Bologna, Sampdoria, Lazio	33
10	Gigi Riva	Cagliari	32
11	Roberto Pruzzo	Genoa, Roma, Fiorentina	30
12	Diego Maradona	Napoli	29
13	Andrea Carnevale	Avellino, Reggiana, Cagliari, Udinese, Napoli, Roma, Pescara	28
	Gianni Rivera	Milan
15	Francesco Graziani	Arezzo, Torino, Fiorentina, Roma, Udinese	27
16	Pierino Prati	Milan, Roma	26
	Oscar Damiani	Vicenza, Napoli, Juventus, Genoa, Milan, Parma
	Aldo Serena	Bari, Internazionale, Milan, Juventus
19	Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus	25
	Antonio Di Natale	Empoli, Udinese
	Sandro Tovalieri	Arezzo, Roma, Avellino, Ancona, Atalanta, Reggiana, Sampdoria
	Gabriel Batistuta	Fiorentina, Roma

Players with Most Titles

The players with the most Coppa Italia titles are Gianluigi Buffon and Roberto Mancini, both with 6 wins.

Where to Watch: Broadcasting the Coppa Italia

This section lists the TV channels and online streaming services that show the Coppa Italia. They also often show the Supercoppa Italiana.

Broadcasters for 2024–2027

Watching in Italy

In Italy, the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana have been shown by Mediaset since the 2021–22 season. Before that, the national public TV channel RAI broadcast the tournament until the 2020–21 edition.

Watching Internationally

For countries that don't have specific TV deals, you can often watch the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana on the Serie A YouTube channel.

Countries	Broadcaster	Ref
Albania	Tring
Andorra	DAZN
Austria
Belgium
Germany
Japan
Liechtenstein
Spain
Switzerland
Argentina	ESPN
Paraguay
Uruguay
Australia	Network 10
Brazil	CazéTV
	Nsports
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Arena Sport
Croatia
Montenegro
Macedonia
Serbia
Slovenia
Bulgaria	Max Sport
Canada	TLN
	fuboTV
China	Migu
Colombia	Win Sports
Cyprus	Cytavision Sports
Czech Republic	Sport1
Slovakia
Ecuador	ECDF
France	L'Equipe
Greece	Nova Sports
Hungary	Arena4
Indian Subcontinent	GXR World
Indonesia	TVRI
	Emtek
Ireland	Premier Sports
United Kingdom
Israel	Charlton
Kazakhstan	Sport+
Middle East and North Africa	AD Sports
Malta	TSN
Netherlands	Ziggo Sport
Norway	VG+
Poland	Polsat Sport
Portugal	Sport TV
Russia	Match TV
South Korea	SPOTV
Sub-Saharan Africa	Azam TV
	New World TV
Sweden	Aftonbladet
Thailand	BG Sports
Ukraine	MEGOGO
United States	CBS
Vietnam	Q.net Television

See also

In Spanish: Copa Italia para niños

• Supercoppa Italiana
• Coppa Italia Dilettanti
• List of Coppa Italia finals