Nickname: Azzurri
Manager: Marcello Lippi
Previous World Cup appearances: 16
Best finish: Winners 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
Key players:
Gianluigi Buffon
Fabio Cannavaro
Gennaro Gattuso
Andrea Pirlo
Much like Spain in 2008, Italy's recent success at a major tournament - at the last World Cup in Germany in 2006 - ended a prolonged period of underachievement.
Gone are the days when the holders qualified for the World Cup by right but no matter: Marcello Lippi's side comfortably won their qualifying group by six points. Perhaps no surprise in a relatively undemanding group consisting of Georgia, Montenegro, Cyprus, Bulgaria and the Republic of Ireland.
Perhaps Italy's 2006 triumph - inspired in no small part by the goals and drive of all-action full-back Fabio Grosso - bears out Arsene Wenger's theory that it is impossible to have a strong domestic league and international team simultaneously.
Italy was once the powerhouse of European club football, but no longer, as teams from England and Spain have largely ruled the roost in the UEFA Champions League, but the national side has become one of the most balanced and consistent in the world in recent years.
In Fabio Cannavaro they have one of the most experienced and capable defenders in the world. Gianluigi Buffon is certainly among the finest goalkeepers of his generation, Gennaro Gattuso a globally-feared midfield general, while the dead-ball skills and distribution of the brilliant Andrea Pirlo of AC Milan have illuminated the world game for years.
Some may speculate that Italy's key performers are past their best. But perhaps it's the presence of Cannavaro alone that raises such doubts: the inspirational centre-back will be three months short of his 37th birthday when the tournament begins.
But there is nothing to fear in the ages of many of the key members of the line-up. Gattuso, who seems to have been around for an age, will be 32 during the tournament, Pirlo will be 31 in May 2010, while Gianluca Zambrotta will be 33. Old age will not be an issue.
Having stepped down after their World Cup triumph in 2006, former Juventus chief Lippi returned to the hotseat following Roberto Donadoni's efforts with the squad at Euro 2008 were deemed unacceptable.
The experienced coach - who has managed no less than 12 club teams before his two spells with the national team - believes his teams must become greater than the sum of their parts, and he certainly achieved that aim in 2006.
Recent incarnations of the Azzurri have undoubtedly lacked the same flair and poise that came with the likes of Roberto Baggio, Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, but their effectiveness is never in doubt, and as the nation that gave birth to catenaccio football, their passion for the art of defendning makes them notoriously difficult to break down.
Zambrotta, Grosso and Giorgio Chiellini are all established names in the rearguard, while in midfield Daniele De Rossi and Liverpool's Alberto Aquilani will also be desperate to make their mark on the tournament.
Joining Gilardino in a solid if unspectacular forward line, Vincenzo Iaquinta boasts nearly 40 caps, while the less experienced but equally talented Fabio Quagliarella stands every chance of making the plane to South Africa.
If Lippi and his players can call on the experience of 2006, while adapting to the demands of the inaugural World Cup on African soil, then their 31 rival teams in South Africa will have plenty to fear.
