Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon blames politics for the decline of Italian football

Tom Weber

• 22 Nov 2025 10:01 CST
• 4 min read

News

Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon has blamed politics and complacency for the decline of Italian football as the Azzurri are at risk of missing a third consecutive World Cup.

The former goalkeeper, one of the greatest players of all time, currently works for the Italian national team in a sporting director role and witnessed firsthand how the four-time world champions missed out on direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Coached by Buffon's former teammate Gennaro Gattuso, Italy were demolished 4-1 by Norway on home soil at the San Siro in Milan in the final game of the first phase of UEFA qualifying.

As a result, the Azzurri dropped into the playoffs. In March, they will host Northern Ireland and, if they win, they will then play either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina to make the tournament.

It was a favourable playoff draw for Italy, but it has done little to alleviate domestic fears that the country could miss out on a third consecutive World Cup after not reaching the 2018 and 2022 editions.

Buffon saw Italy's decline coming

Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Buffon has now given a damning verdict on the state of Italian football and its future. Perhaps more worrying is the fact that he already saw this decline coming when Italy finished bottom of Group F at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“Here we made some mistake, there is no doubt. But beware: in a few years, we will find ourselves celebrating qualifications, not a World Cup win," Buffon recounted his comments made at the time.

“I understood what was happening, the changes underway were faster than expected. I also wanted us not to tell ourselves stories that no longer exist. The problem is living in two worlds that do not meet.

"On the one hand, by virtue of our history, we are presumptuous: we think everything is due to us by divine grace. France has been a great team for 30 years, Spain for almost 20, they are in the present.

"Today’s results date back 20 years, to when we became complacent about our strength, about Buffon, [Fabio] Cannavaro, [Francesco] Totti, thinking that it would be eternal by divine grace. Even then, we should have rethought the technical and tactical models, but we were cicadas.”

Buffon wants to see far-reaching reforms in Italian football. However, he believes that the decision-makers in politics do not dare to implement radical change, echoing the words of Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis, who recently thundered that politicians are holding Italian football back.

“It is a courageous choice that politics often doesn’t make, focused on votes and therefore on the here and now, without thinking about planning. It's simple: in ten years, you will interview another Buffon in my place, and the questions and answers will be the same.”

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