Exactly 20 years ago, Fabio Cannavaro lifted the World Cup as captain of Italy at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Today, at 52 years old, the former central defender returns to football’s biggest stage, but this time from the Uzbekistan bench, at the most important moment in the history of that Central Asian country.
Born on September 13, 1973 in Naples, Cannavaro made his professional debut with Napoli in 1993. His playing career led him to defend the colors of Parma, where he won two Italian Cups, an Italian Super Cup and a UEFA Cup; from Inter Milan, Juventus – in two stages -, Real Madrid, where he won two Spanish leagues and a Spanish Super Cup, and Al-Ahli from the United Arab Emirates, a club from which he retired in 2011.
His highest point came in 2006. As captain of the Azzurra, Cannavaro was the defensive figure of the team that was crowned world champion in Germany. That same year he received the Ballon d’Or and became the last defender to win the award to date. It was the emblem of a solid and champion Italy.
Twenty years later, Cannavaro is living a very different chapter. While Italy is going through a deep crisis and does not qualify for a World Cup for the third consecutive edition – absent in Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 and the United States-Mexico-Canada 2026 -, the former Italian captain leads the team that is making its debut in the history of the World Cups.
Cannavaro took over as coach of Uzbekistan in October 2025. He took a team in the final stretch of the Asian qualifiers and maintained the course that led the White Wolves to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time. His coaching career includes spells with Guangzhou, Al-Nassr, Tianjin Tianhai, the Chinese national team, Benevento, Udinese and Dinamo Zagreb.
This Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at the Mexico City Stadium (Azteca Stadium), Cannavaro leads Uzbekistan against Colombia. Before the game he expressed: “I try to help relieve the pressure. The stage is hard, I try to explain to them that they should enjoy it because it is the first time and we have nothing to lose. But that does not mean that we will limit ourselves to enjoying the moment, we know that we have to fight,” he declared.
Regarding the imposing Mexico City Stadium, the Italian coach stated: “When you enter this stadium, your skin gives goosebumps. This stadium is surely among the three most iconic in the world.”
Cannavaro has also sought to transmit his experience to his players:
“I told them what my first day at a World Cup was like, because this is something they will remember all their lives.”
For Cannavaro, this match represents much more than a debut. It is his return to a World Cup as a protagonist, although from a completely different role. The man who in 2006 was the wall of Italy is now looking to build something solid from the bench of a debuting team that dreams of competing.
Whatever the result against Colombia, today a new page is written in the career of the former Ballon d’Or: from the captain’s armband in Berlin to the challenge of leading Uzbekistan to a surprise in the 2026 World Cup.