Italy at the FIFA World Cup Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is one of only three players who have been part of five FIFA World Cup squads. Two Italians were awarded the Golden Boot for best goalscorer at a FIFA World Cup: Paolo Rossi in 1982 and Salvatore Schillaci in 1990 with 6 goals each. Golden Ball award Golden Boot award Other individual awards Three World Cup finals have been officiated by representatives of the Italian football federation, only English referees have had the honour more often (four times). The 1978 final between Argentina and the Netherlands has been led by Sergio Gonella, who had already officiated the
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) 2008 in Zürich, Switzerland. The five group winners will qualify for the FIFA World Cup and the African Cup of Nations in 2010. Together with them, the five runners-up and the five third-placed teams qualify for the African Cup of Nations. Teams were seeded based on their FIFA World Rankings in October 2008 (number in parentheses). One team from each of the following pots was drawn into each group. The following six teams from CAF qualified for the final tournament. There were 506 goals scored over 198 games, for an average of 2.54 goals per game. 12 goals 9 goals