Interim Italy boss Silvio Baldini believes that serial winner Antonio Conte would be a success if he decided to return to take charge of the Azzurri. 

Baldini is in temporary charge of Italy and won his first game 1-0 against Luxembourg, where he handed 15 players their international debut at Stade de Luxembourg. 

The Azzurri are on the hunt for a permanent head coach following the resignation of Gennaro Gattuso after Italy failed to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup. 

Conte has been linked with the vacancy after leaving Napoli at the end of the 2025-26 season, just one year on from guiding them to the Serie A title in his first campaign in charge. 

The 56-year-old previously took charge of Italy between 2014 and 2016, where he won 14 of his 25 games in charge (D7 L4), averaging a win percentage of 56%. 

However, Baldini pointed to Conte's success at club level as something Italy should look to consider, given he has 11 major titles during his managerial career. 

"Talking about coaches, one who almost always wins, always finishes in first or second is Conte," Baldini said.   

"But why does Conte always win? He has his own style, he can be nice, he can be unpleasant, he creates a strong group, but I'm just talking about results. 

"He went to England and won. He won with three squads in Italy. Juventus, Inter, Napoli. Whenever he didn't win, he came second. 

"But why is Conte successful? Because he has a methodology.

"If youth teams don't understand that having a methodology isn't just about teaching technique or how to cross the ball, then we're going nowhere; it's more like a lifestyle."

Napoli did, however, end the 2025-26 league season with 76 points, the first time a team coached by Conte has ever failed to bring up 80 points in a single Serie A campaign.

Considering Europe's top five leagues, only with Chelsea in 2017-18 (70) and Tottenham in 2021-22 (71) has Conte ever accrued fewer points in a season. 

However, Conte's 62% win rate in Serie A with Napoli is the third-highest of all Partenopei coaches, behind only Maurizio Sarri (69%) and Luciano Spalletti (68%).