Italy's first goal must be to make football fans in the country fall back in love with their national team, Claudio Ranieri said after being appointed as the Azzurri's technical director.  

After failing to qualify for a third straight edition of the World Cup in March, Italy parted company with Gennaro Gattuso and embarked on a chaotic head coaching search.

That process saw the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) hold unsuccessful talks with Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, then Andrea Pirlo looked set to take the job until his links to a Russian betting company caused public outcry and prompted him to withdraw from the running. 

Paolo Maldini only lasted 12 days as Italy's technical director before quitting earlier this week, with new FIGC president Giovanni Malago naming Ranieri as a replacement for the former AC Milan defender and reappointing Roberto Mancini as head coach.  

And at an introductory press conference on Wednesday, Ranieri promised to change the Italian public's relationship with the team.

"It is the crowning moment of a career, and I didn't believe it when I saw Giovanni Malago's call arrive," Ranieri said. "I was at the beach – as you can see from my tan! 

"I know it will be a difficult situation, but my career as a coach speaks volumes about dealing with difficulties. I never held back. 

"There are two crucial things. The first is to get people to fall back in love with football. 

"The second is to make sure kids like my grandchild, who is 12 years old, can watch Italy at a World Cup, which he has never done."

Italy are the first former World Cup winners to fail to qualify for three straight editions of the tournament, while they have not played a knockout game at FIFA's flagship competition since beating France in the 2006 final.

And Ranieri believes the Azzurri's failures have been technical, rather than tactical, saying Italian youth coaches are too focused on results to teach players basic skills. 

"We don't have enough players to choose from. We won the Euros at under-17 level this year because we are good at tactics," Ranieri said.

"But we've got to develop individual techniques at academies, how to control the ball, movement, how to cross, how to take shots. 

"Coaches say they don't have time for that, because they have to win. That is the wrong way of doing it. You don't start kids playing tennis and throw them straight into a match."

Italy will start their 2026-27 Nations League campaign against Belgium on September 25, with two matches against Turkiye and a daunting trip to France to follow during an extended international break.