Italy cricket captain Madsen hopes T20 World Cup entry can inspire struggling football team

Italy's cricket captain hopes their T20 World Cup debut inspires the struggling national football team to reclaim glory.

Italy captain Wayne Madsen on Sunday (February 8, 2026) hoped that his side’s history-making entry into the T20 World Cup will inspire the country’s four-time FIFA World Cup-winning football team, which is currently in danger of missing a third successive global final.

Italy, once football royalty, have struggled in recent qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and are now looking to progress via the playoffs after failing to top their group.

“Hopefully, we can inspire the football team to a World Cup as well and that will be quite nice if we can perform to a level that inspires them to get to the World Cup,” Madsen said on the eve of their milestone T20 World Cup debut against Scotland.

Since lifting their fourth title in 2006, Italy have crashed out in the group stage in 2010 and 2014 and failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2016 editions. Their 2026 campaign has also begun shakily, with Norway thrashing them 3-0 to seal their qualification.

Madsen said the side have done their homework ahead of the ICC showpiece.

“We’ve obviously had some really good preparation in Dubai prior to Chennai. We were able to play some competitive cricket out there against Ireland, and then we've had some good practice games as well,” he said.