Italy’s victory over France in the 2006 World Cup final remains one of the defining moments in the country’s football history. Buffon described it as the “embrace of an extraordinary group” and thanked the team-mates, staff and supporters who shared the occasion.
That language matters. The triumph was not presented as the property of one generation alone, but as part of a national identity passed from one side to the next. For Buffon, the memory still belongs to “all the Italians who dreamed with us”.
The anniversary carries greater weight because Italy has struggled to remain a regular presence at the World Cup. The Azzurri exited in the group stage in 2010 and 2014, then missed the tournaments in 2018 and 2022. Reports suggest the latest qualification setback could bring a third successive absence.
That is why Buffon’s reflection avoids simple nostalgia. He acknowledged that Italy could have been “once again a protagonist on the world's most important football stage”. The gap between that ambition and recent reality is now impossible to ignore.
Buffon does not appear to view 2006 as a burden placed on today’s players. Instead, he frames it as a standard: evidence of what Italy can achieve when talent, unity and conviction meet at the right moment.
“The love for the azzurro never changes and never fades,” he wrote. That belief will be tested by the next competitive cycle, when Italy must rebuild confidence, develop a clearer identity and make qualification feel routine again.
The next storyline is whether the 2006 anniversary becomes an emotional farewell to a golden era-or the starting point for Italy’s return to the world stage.