1982 World Cup winner ‘confident’ in Italy despite heavy defeat to Norway

Alessandro Altobelli, a 1982 Italy World Cup winner, is confident that the Azzurri will qualify for the 2026 World Cup: ‘This team can give us satisfaction.’

Italy legend Altobelli turns 70 today and has released interviews with several Italian media, including Sport Mediaset.

Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy will meet Northern Ireland in the World Cup play-off semifinal in March 2026, and Altobelli is confident about the Azzurri’s chances of qualifying for the competition.

“Surely, if we judge the game against Norway, we can’t talk highly of the national team, but I’m confident. The play-offs are in a few months,” he said.

“I think it’s a young team, a team with quality and passion. This team can give us satisfaction, and they can take it too because Italian football has always been nice and has always obtained results, like four World Cup victories and two European Champions titles.”

The Inter legend also praised Inter coach Chivu despite two consecutive losses against Milan and Atletico Madrid.

“Everyone was worried because Chivu was the Parma coach, and they were unsure if he was up to the task,” said the Inter legend.

“Today, I finally read that he’s a good coach who can win and knows about football. After all, every ex-footballer who becomes a coach knows about football; what they need is to make their players understand it.”

Lastly, Altobelli spoke about the Serie A title race: “Inter and Napoli have something more, but Juventus aren’t bad either and even Roma. They’ve all had a good transfer window, play good football and have excellent coaches. I think it will be quite a hard season.”