Italy will travel to Sofia, where they will meet their hosts, Bulgaria in the first match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as both nations will look to add on to their rich history in soccer's biggest stage.
Ever since the FIFA World Cup began, Italy has made 17 of the 19 appearances in the final tournament. They missed the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay and Sweden 1958.
They possess four World Cup championships as they went back-to-back in 1934 and 1938. They captured it a few decades later in 1982 and then won in Germany in 2006. They also fell short in a memorable 1994 World Cup match against Brazil and were also the runner-up in 1970.
Now leading the team, the only member of the 2006 World Cup team is Gianluigi Buffon. Cesare Prandelli will look to coach the team back into contention as they faced an early eliminating in the group stage at South Africa 2010.
Bulgaria, another country with rich history in the World Cup, has struggled as of late as they have not made it to the big dance since 1998.
Their best campaign came in 1994 when they took the fourth spot. Captain Stilian Petrov of Aston Villa will look to get the country back on the World Cup map and attempt to take them to their eight World Cup appearance in the nation's history.
To watch the live stream of this match, click here.
