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

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.

“For us, the prep in terms of getting ready has been very good so far, and I think it sort of sunk in and got real when the game started yesterday. We’ve had some good discussions as a group in terms of how we’re going to deal with the pressures of a tournament like this, and that realness is starting to sink in. There will be a few nerves around, which is going to be normal. Our biggest challenge now is to take the form that we’ve shown in the practice matches into the pressure cooker of the World Cup. So how we react to the big stage is going to be our biggest challenge,” he said.

“The opportunity for us as players to create something special is what our focus is on, and we can only control as a group what we can, and that’s the message to the players,” he added.

Playing in India, where cricket is followed religiously, has only added to the occasion.

“We’ve gained a lot of confidence from the way we’ve played in the last couple of weeks, so yeah, obviously the atmosphere and everyone here in India has been so welcoming. It’s a cricket-mad nation, and for us as players, just to be able to come to India to play is a huge honour, so it’s important for us to enjoy ourselves, and that’s our biggest message to the group,” he said.

Back in Italy the buzz, however, has been little but Madsen felt the interest was set to grow along with televised World Cup matches.

“I think the buzz and the fan support are only going to get bigger as we get into the tournament and when the games start to get onto TV,” he said.

“We want to make everyone proud back in Italy and we want to leave a legacy that cricket develops in the country. So it’s a fantastic opportunity but we want everyone to get behind us and support us through this tournament and it’s going to be a great journey and we’re looking forward to getting, well, having a lot of people behind us. I think there’s already been quite a few big name sportsmen from other sports who have shouted out on social media to the boys and that’s been awesome to see,” he said.

The cricketing infrastructure is still a work in progress in Italy, but with the Olympic status accorded to the sport, things would change, remarked head coach John Davison.

“In terms of the number of clubs, I know we’ve got over 100 clubs in the country and yes, we don’t have a turf pitch yet. That’s, obviously, one of the focuses of the federation going forward — to try and do that so that we can have international cricket in the country and that will then lead to the game further developing and getting better within Italy,” he said.

“In terms of funding, I think because cricket is now an Olympic sport and we fall under the Olympic umbrella. I’m not sure of the figures but you know if you’re an Olympic sport, you are better funded,” he said.