Serie A facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Serie A

Organising body	Lega Serie A
Founded	1898; 127 years ago (1898) 1929; 96 years ago (1929) (as round-robin)
Country	Italy
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	20 (since 2004–05)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Serie B
Domestic cup(s)	Coppa Italia Supercoppa Italiana
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League
Current champions	Napoli (4th title) (2024–25)
Most championships	Juventus (36 titles)
Most appearances	Gianluigi Buffon (657)
Top goalscorer	Silvio Piola (274)
TV partners	List of broadcasters

The Serie A is Italy's top professional association football league. It is the highest level of football in the Italian football league system. The league started in its current format in the 1929–30 season. Before that, Italian football championships had been played since 1898.

Serie A uses a system of promotion and relegation with Serie B. This means teams can move up to Serie A or down to Serie B based on how well they play. The league is currently organized by the Lega Serie A.

Serie A is known for its strong tactics and tough defense. It is one of the best football leagues in the world. As of the 2024–25 season, Serie A is ranked second in Europe. This ranking is based on how Italian teams perform in European competitions. It is behind England's Premier League and ahead of Spain's La Liga.

Many famous and successful clubs play in Serie A. These include Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan. These teams have won many titles in Italy and in Europe. Juventus has won the most Italian titles. Milan and Inter have also won many important European trophies. Along with teams like Roma, Napoli, Lazio, and Fiorentina, these clubs are sometimes called the "seven sisters" of Italian football. Serie A has always attracted top players from all over the world. Many players who won the Ballon d'Or (an award for the best player) have played in Serie A.

History of Italian Football

Early Football Championships (1898–1928)

Football in Italy began to be organized in 1898. The first Italian Football Championship was held in Turin. Genoa won this first championship. They were very strong in the early years, winning five out of six times. AC Milan won in 1901.

From 1904, the tournament was called Prima Categoria. Teams played in regional groups first. Then, the winners of these groups played each other to decide the champions.

In 1921, there was a disagreement about how many teams should be in the league. This led to a split, and two different championships were played in the 1921–22 season. Later, the leagues came back together. In 1926, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) was put under new control. The top league was then called Divisione Nazionale.

How Serie A Started

Italian football was reorganized in 1929. This created a national league with two main divisions: Serie A and Serie B. Teams could move between these two divisions based on their performance. The first Serie A title was won by Internazionale, who were then called Ambrosiana.

After World War II, the league went back to its national format in 1946. It has continued this way ever since.

The Scudetto and the Trophy

The Italian league championship title is often called the scudetto. This means "small shield" in Italian. Since the 1923–24 season, the winning team gets to wear a small shield with the Italian flag on their jersey the next season.

A real trophy, called the Coppa Campioni d'Italia, has been given to the winning club since the 1960–61 season. Until 2004, it was given at the league's office. Now, it is presented to the winning team on the field after their last game of the season.

Serie A in the 21st Century

In 2009, Serie A decided to separate from Serie B. This was mainly due to disagreements over television rights. A new league, Lega Serie A, was formed.

In 2016, Serie A was chosen to test video replays (VAR) in football. This technology helps referees make correct decisions. VAR was fully used in Serie A starting from the 2017–18 season.

In February 2024, clubs voted to keep the league format with 20 teams.

How Serie A Works

For most of its history, Serie A had 16 or 18 clubs. Since the 2004–05 season, there have been 20 clubs.

• 18 clubs: 1929–1934
• 16 clubs: 1934–1943
• 20 clubs: 1946–1947
• 21 clubs: 1947–1948
• 20 clubs: 1948–1952
• 18 clubs: 1952–1967
• 16 clubs: 1967–1988
• 18 clubs: 1988–2004
• 20 clubs: 2004–present

The Scudetto patch worn by the champions

The season runs from August to May. Each club plays every other team twice. They play once at home and once away. This means each team plays a total of 38 games. This is called a round-robin format.

Since the 1994–95 season, teams get three points for a win. They get one point for a draw (a tie), and no points for a loss. The three teams with the fewest points at the end of the season are relegated to Serie B. Three teams from Serie B are then promoted to Serie A.

Qualifying for European Competitions

In the 2023–24 season, Serie A was ranked as the best league by UEFA coefficient. This happened because all seven Serie A teams in European competitions reached the knockout stages. Also, Atalanta won the Europa League, and Fiorentina reached the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Because of this strong performance, the top 5 clubs in Serie A now qualify for the UEFA Champions League in the 2024–25 season.

Breaking Ties in the Standings

The Serie A championship trophy

If two teams have the same number of points at the end of the season for first place or for 17th place (the last safe spot), they play an extra match. This match is played at a neutral stadium. If it's still a tie after 90 minutes, they go straight to penalties.

For all other tied positions, these rules are used:

• Points from games played against each other.
• Goal difference in games played against each other.
• Overall goal difference in the season.
• Higher number of goals scored overall.
• If still tied for a European spot or relegation, a play-off game is held. Otherwise, a coin flip decides.

A play-off game was only used once to decide the champion. This was in the 1963–64 season. Bologna beat Inter 2–0 to win the title. Play-off games have been used more often to decide European qualification or relegation.

Serie A Clubs

There have been 68 different teams that have played in Serie A since it became a league in 1929. Inter Milan is the only team that has played in every single Serie A season.

Clubs in the 2025–26 Season

The following 20 clubs are playing in Serie A during the 2025–26 season.

Maps of Serie A Teams

Current teams are shown in green on the map.

Seasons Played in Serie A

There are 68 teams that have played in Serie A since the 1929–30 season. The teams in bold are currently playing in Serie A. The year in parentheses shows their most recent season in the top league. Inter Milan is the only team that has played in Serie A every season.

Serie A Logos

Serie A has had different logos over the years. These logos often included the name of its main sponsor, like Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM). New logos were introduced in 2018 and 2019.

On February 5, 2024, Serie A signed a new sponsorship deal with Eni, also known as Enilive. Enilive is now the main sponsor of Serie A.

Watching Serie A on TV

In Italy, two main broadcasters show Serie A games. These are the satellite TV company Sky Italia and the streaming service DAZN. RAI is only allowed to show highlights of the games.

Since the 2010–11 season, all Serie A clubs work together to sell their TV rights. Before this, each club sold its own rights.

International Broadcasters

Serie A is popular around the world. In the 1990s, it was very popular in the United Kingdom. It has been shown on many different TV channels in the UK over the years.

In the United States, Serie A games are currently shown on CBS Sports and its streaming service Paramount+.

Broadcasters for 2024–29

For the 2024–29 period, Serie A has sold its international TV rights to the Infront agency. This agency works to make deals with TV companies in different countries.

Africa

Americas

Asia and Oceania

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

Serie A Champions

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) recognizes 29 Italian Football Championships that happened before Serie A started in 1929. The club with the most national championships is Juventus, with 36 titles. Inter Milan is second with 20 titles, and AC Milan is third with 19 titles. For every ten championships a club wins, they get to display a special star on their jersey.

No national titles were given for the 1926–27 and 2004–05 seasons. This was because of football-related issues involving Torino and Juventus.

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
Juventus	36	21	1905, 1925–26, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
Inter Milan	20	17	1909–10, 1919–20, 1929–30, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1979–80, 1988–89, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2020–21, 2023–24
AC Milan	19	17	1901, 1906, 1907, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1978–79, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2010–11, 2021–22
Genoa	9	4	1898, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1914–15, 1922–23, 1923–24
Torino	7	8	1927–28, 1942–43, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1975–76
Bologna	7	4	1924–25, 1928–29, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1963–64
Pro Vercelli	7	1	1908, 1909, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1921–22 (CCI)
Napoli	4	8	1986–87, 1989–90, 2022–23, 2024–25
Roma	3	14	1941–42, 1982–83, 2000–01
Lazio	2	6	1973–74, 1999–2000
Fiorentina	2	5	1955–56, 1968–69
Cagliari	1	1	1969–70
Casale	1	0	1913–14
Novese	1	0	1921–22 (FIGC)
Hellas Verona	1	0	1984–85
Sampdoria	1	0	1990–91

Champions by City

Champions by Region

Serie A Records

Boldface means a player is still active in Serie A. Italics means a player is active but plays outside Serie A.

Most Appearances in Serie A

Gianluigi Buffon has played in a record 657 Serie A games.

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Years active	Apps	Goals
1	Gianluigi Buffon	Parma, Juventus	1995–2006 2007–2018 2019–2021	657	0
2	Paolo Maldini	AC Milan	1984–2009	647	29
3	Francesco Totti	Roma	1992–2017	619	250
4	Javier Zanetti	Inter Milan	1995–2014	615	12
5	Gianluca Pagliuca	Sampdoria, Inter Milan, Bologna, Ascoli	1987–2005 2006–2007	592	0
6	Dino Zoff	Udinese, Mantova, Napoli, Juventus	1961–1983	570	0
7	Samir Handanović	Treviso, Lazio, Udinese, Inter Milan	2004–2006 2007–2023	566	0
8	Pietro Vierchowod	Como, Fiorentina, Roma, Sampdoria, Juventus, AC Milan, Piacenza	1980–2000	562	38
9	Fabio Quagliarella	Torino, Ascoli, Sampdoria, Udinese, Napoli, Juventus	1999–2000 2001–2002 2005–2023	556	182
10	Roberto Mancini	Bologna, Sampdoria, Lazio	1981–2000	541	156

Most Goals in Serie A

Silvio Piola is the top goalscorer in Serie A history with 274 goals.

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Years active	Goals	Apps	Ratio
1	Silvio Piola	Pro Vercelli, Lazio, Juventus, Novara	1929–1943 1946–1947 1948–1954	274	537	0.51
2	Francesco Totti	Roma	1992–2017	250	619	0.4
3	Gunnar Nordahl	AC Milan, Roma	1949–1958	225	291	0.77
4	Giuseppe Meazza	Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus	1929–1943 1946–1947	216	367	0.59
	José Altafini	AC Milan, Napoli, Juventus	1958–1976	216	459	0.47
6	Antonio Di Natale	Empoli, Udinese	2002–2016	209	445	0.47
7	Roberto Baggio	Fiorentina, Juventus, AC Milan, Bologna, Inter Milan, Brescia	1985–2004	205	452	0.45
8	Ciro Immobile	Juventus, Genoa, Torino, Lazio	2009–2010 2012–2014 2015–2024	201	353	0.57
9	Kurt Hamrin	Juventus, Padova, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Napoli	1956–1971	190	400	0.48
10	Giuseppe Signori	Foggia, Lazio, Sampdoria, Bologna	1991–2004	188	344	0.55
	Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus	1993–2006 2007–2012	188	478	0.39
	Alberto Gilardino	Piacenza, Hellas Verona, Parma, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Genoa, Bologna, Palermo	1999–2017	188	514	0.37

Players in Serie A

Players from Outside the EU

Serie A has rules about how many players from outside the European Union (EU) a club can sign. In the past, many famous foreign players came to play in Serie A. These included stars like Michel Platini, Lothar Matthäus, Ruud Gullit, and Diego Maradona.

Over the years, the rules about non-EU players have changed many times. These rules help manage how many international players join Italian clubs each season.

Homegrown Players

Serie A also has rules about "homegrown" players. These are players who trained at a club's youth academy. Clubs must have a certain number of these players in their squad. This rule helps make sure that Italian clubs develop their own young talent.

FIFA World Players of the Year

Many players who won the FIFA World Player of the Year award played in Serie A. This award goes to the best football player in the world.

• Lothar Matthäus: 1991 (Inter Milan)
• Marco van Basten: 1992 (AC Milan)
• Roberto Baggio: 1993 (Juventus)
• George Weah: 1995 (AC Milan)
• Ronaldo: 1997, 2002 (Inter Milan)
• Zinedine Zidane: 1998, 2000 (Juventus)
• Fabio Cannavaro: 2006 (Juventus)
• Kaká: 2007 (AC Milan)

Serie A Player of The Month

The Serie A Player of the Month award recognizes the best player each month in Serie A. The winner is usually chosen by online voting from a list of five nominees.

As of 2024, here are the players with the most wins:

Rank	Player	Wins
1	Paulo Dybala	5
2	Khvicha Kvaratskhelia	4
3	Rafael Leão	3
4	Hakan Çalhanoğlu	2
	Alejandro Gómez
	Moise Kean
	'Ruslan Malinovskyi
	Sergej Milinković-Savić
	Victor Osimhen
	Cristiano Ronaldo
	Dušan Vlahović

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See also

In Spanish: Serie A (Italia) para niños