title: Toyota AE86

text: The rear wheel drive configuration, combined with the AE86's light weight (approximately 2300 lb (950–970 kg) curb weight), balance and relatively powerful (and easy to tune) 4A-GEU engine made it popular among the Japanese "hashiriya" (street racers in Japanese), many of whom raced in "touge" (mountain passes in Japanese) where the corners suited the AE86 best, especially on the downhill. Among those who utilized this car was Japanese racing legend Keiichi Tsuchiya also known as the "Drift King" ("Dori-Kin" in Japanese). Keiichi Tsuchiya helped popularize the sport of drifting, which involves taking a car on a set of controlled slides through corners. The AE86's FR configuration made it well suited to this kind of cornering, and currently the car is a mainstay of drift shows and competitions. Japanese drifters like Katsuhiro Ueo, Toshiki Yoshioka, Yoichi Imamura, Koichi Yamashita, Hiroshi Takahashi, Tetsuya Hibino, and Wataru Hayashi were also involved in making the AE86 famous in the drift scene.


title: Toyota AE86

text: The AE86 is considered as an iconic cultural symbol in Japanese popular culture following its inclusion in the "Initial D" anime and manga. The main character, Takumi Fujiwara, uses his father's AE86 Trueno GT-Apex Hatchback for racing and making his tofu deliveries. Takumi's friend, Itsuki Takeuchi, drives an AE85 Levin. Throughout the series, two of Takumi's opponents drive AE86s: Wataru Akiyama, who drives a turbocharged (later supercharged) AE86 Corolla Levin, and Shinji Inui, who drives the notchback coupé version of the AE86 Trueno. The AE86 is also a playable vehicle in the "Initial D Arcade Stage" series. The popularity of "Initial D" is cited as the main cause of the car's high resale price, which is often referred to as "Takumi tax" or "Tofu tax", after the main character and his tofu delivery occupation respectively.


title: Toyota AE86

text: In the 2001 film "The Fast and the Furious", a red Corolla AE86 can be briefly seen in the background waiting in line to enter Race Wars. The AE86 also made minor cameos in "" and "Fast & Furious".


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of December each year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The current event sponsor is SBD Apparel. Previous sponsors include Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The event has a number of rival and parallel competitions with which it is sometimes confused, including the Strongman Super Series, the now defunct IFSA Strongman World Championships (run from 2005 to 2007 after the International Federation of Strength Athletes parted company with WSM in 2004) and Strongman Champions League.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: There are now several documentaries available that chart the history of WSM. The first major one is Worlds Strongest Man - Thirty Years Of Pain from 2008, celebrating the 30th anniversary. In 2017, a series of videos were released in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the contest.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The concept behind "The World's Strongest Men", as it was originally named, was developed in 1977 for CBS by Langstar Inc. David Webster, a Scot who later received an OBE for his services to sport, was the head coordinator of the competition from its inception. Dr. Douglas Edmunds, seven-time Scottish shot and discus champion and twice world caber champion, worked with Webster and when Webster retired, Edmunds took over. These two men were responsible for inviting the competitors and choosing the events. In the meantime, in 1982, CBS sold the rights to the BBC, who in turn sold the rights to TWI. In 1987, the WSM was not held for the only time since its inception. In that year, the first and only non-team Pure Strength competition was held, but it was not part of the WSM franchise.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: For the first several contests, well-known American color commentators and analysts were used on the network broadcast. These included Brent Musburger, Tom Brookshier, and acknowledged strength authority, journalist and author Dr. Terry Todd. Todd was a former powerlifting world record holder himself and went on to establish the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports in 1990. He also was asked to establish the Arnold Strongman Classic in 2001 by Arnold Schwarzenegger.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: During this early period, the contest ranks consisted mostly of American football players, powerlifters, and bodybuilders and were held in American locations until it was moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1983. Two-time winner Bruce Wilhelm (USA) retired and was succeeded by the massive Don Reinhoudt in 1979, a 162 kg (357 lb) heavyweight powerlifter of the US. Reinhoudt still holds several unequipped world records in powerlifting to this day.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In 1979, newcomer and legendary powerlifter Bill Kazmaier (USA) made his appearance, coming in 3rd after leading much of the competition. He dominated the sport to such an extent from 1980 to 1982, winning by a record 28 points in 1980. He reportedly was excluded from the competition for five years, after becoming the first man to win three consecutive WSM titles. He set prodigious marks with a 478.5 kg (1055 lb) silver dollar coin deadlift, 439.5 kg (969 lb) squat (smith machine), and a then-record 165.6 kg (365 lb) log lift with a rough, unbalanced log. This eventually earned him a place in the WSM Hall of Fame.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: After Kazmaier left, his nearest rival, former Olympian Geoff Capes from the UK, traded wins with the Icelandic powerlifter Jón Páll Sigmarsson, with Capes winning in 1983 and 1985, and Sigmarsson in 1984 and 1986. Sigmarsson raised the popularity and awareness of the event to new levels. He died three years after winning his 4th and final WSM in 1990. In 1987, Sigmarsson would defeat Capes and Kazmaier in Pure Strength. Kazmaier returned to WSM in 1988, but could not dethrone Sigmarsson, who won his 3rd title. The only other man to claim the title in this era was Jamie Reeves, which he did in 1989. Reeves was injured in 1990, as Sigmarsson narrowly claimed his 4th title ahead of O.D. Wilson, who was leading by 5.5 points going into the final event, a controversial 200m race with 100 kg on the back. Sigmarsson won the event, and the much larger Wilson finished way down the field, meaning Jon Pall became the first man to claim four titles.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In 1995, Edmunds and Webster, along with representatives from the competitors including Jamie Reeves, Ilkka Kinnunen and Marcel Mostert formed a governing body called the International Federation of Strength Athletes ("IFSA"). The IFSA began organizing bespoke events, such as the IFSA European Championships and also took the lead in working with the BBC and with TWI to organize the World's Strongest Man competition. For almost a decade, the IFSA and WSM were inextricably mixed, but this changed in 2004. The InvestGroup Ventures' sports rights management arm, InvestGroup Sports Management, invested heavily into IFSA and this led to the creation of IFSA Strongman. The strategy was to acquire most of the international assets and properties relating to the strongman sport. In essence, this was a new organisation with some, such as Magnus Samuelsson, describing it as "a new company ... with the same name as our old federation". The attempt at dominance was not well received by TWI and disagreement ensued leading to a split in the sport. Previously, in 2001, the IFSA in its former guise had entered an agreement with World Class Events (WCE), headed by Ulf Bengtsson, to run the Super Series. This Super Series was designed to award the World Championship title, but also acted as a qualifying vehicle for the WSM. When strongman split in 2004, the Super Series sided with TWI forming a rival federation to the IFSA. With the WSM being a TWI owned event, IFSA Holdings announced its own World Championships for 2005, to be held in Quebec, and thus from that point had no involvement in the WSM contest.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The split with IFSA, which banned its registered athletes from competing at WSM, meant that not all the recognized best strength athletes in the world were eligible to compete. However, the reputation of WSM as the premier event maintained its lure for broadcasting purposes. In recent years, the competition has been broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, TSN, Televisa Deportes and Five, and currently CBS Sports Network in the US. The longevity of the contest in strength athletics and its high levels of TV exposure over the years has led to it being described as ""the granddaddy of all strongman contests"".


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In recent years, to curb injuries, the contest events have included a certain amount of athleticism rather than being about raw strength. This has led some critics to say that contests such as the Arnold Strongman Classic or Fortissimus are the true strongest man competitions. However, it is routinely described as "the Worlds" by top strongman competitors and despite the critics, it is the leading brand name in the field. No other strongman contest commands close to the WSM's levels of TV exposure. The World's Strongest Man claims a viewership of 220 million.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In the early 1990s, Magnús Ver Magnússon (Iceland) won the title four times (1991, 1994–1996) and became the second and only man along with the legendary Bill Kazmaier to win three consecutive titles. He came into the 1991 contest as the reserve and ended up winning the show, and is the only man to do so.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Magnús would also finish 2nd in both 1992 and 1993. The 1992 contest was won by Dutchman Ted van der Parre, who at 7 feet tall, is the tallest man ever to win or compete at the World's Strongest Man. In one of the closest contests in the competition's history, just 1 point separated Ted in 1st from Magnús and Jamie Reeves, who tied for 2nd. Conversely, in 1993, Welshman Gary Taylor became the shortest man to ever win the contest at just 6 feet tall, defeating Magnús and Riku Kiri of Finland.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Magnús would finally get his second title in 1994, defeating Austrian Manfred Hoeberl in the closely fought contest, with Kiri finishing 3rd for the second year running. He retained his title the following year, with South African Gerrit Badenhorst and Finland's Marko Varalahti completing the podium. In 1996, Magnús made it to three titles in a row, with his closest competitor Kiri pulling out of the final event due to injury, but still finishing in second. Badenhorst made the podium for the second year in a row. Remarkably, none of these three men would make the final the following year.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The late 1990s saw Scandinavian countries taking control of the title, and this lasted until 2002. The relatively small 125 kg (275 lb) but dynamic Jouko Ahola from Finland won two titles in three years during this period. He later became a referee in WSM/strongman events and an actor. Sweden's Magnus Samuelsson would claim the 1998 title, becoming the only man to defeat Ahola in a WSM contest. Following Ahola's retirement, fellow Finn Janne Virtanen would improve on his 1999 runner up finish and take the title for himself in 2000. The final Scandinavian in this group to take the title was Norwegian Svend Karlsen, who did so in 2001.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The early to late 2000s were dominated by five-time Polish winner Mariusz Pudzianowski, earning the nickname: "The Dominator". Looking muscular and defined, he temporarily redefined what a strongman was in the world's eyes. At about 142 kg (313 lb) at max weight, he routinely beat men much bigger than he was. He combined speed and massive strength in one package. Indeed, he was so dominant, that three of his five championships (2003, 2005 and 2007) were won with an event to spare. His final win was in 2008 as bigger and taller men came into the sport.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Pudzianowski's first title was in 2002, as the era of Scandinavian dominance came to end, with Lithuanian Žydrūnas Savickas and Latvian Raimonds Bergmanis completing the podium. He would defend his title in 2003 in spectacular fashion. He won 4 of the 7 events, and claiming two 2nd places and a 3rd place in the remaining events to finish with 66 out of a possible 70 points, and 20 ahead of runner up Savickas. 2003 was also the first appearance of Ukrainian Vasyl Virastyuk, who finished 3rd.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In 2004, Savickas and Virastyuk were tied for the lead heading into the final event, the Atlas Stones. Virastyuk would defeat Savickas to claim the title, with the Lithuanian finishing as runner up for the 3rd year in a row. Originally, Mariusz Pudzianowski finished in 3rd but was later disqualified after failing a drugs test, meaning Magnus Samuelsson would once again finish on the podium.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Following the split of IFSA and WSM, most of the athletes would stick with IFSA. Pudzianowski was, in fact, the only athlete from the 2004 contest to compete at WSM in 2005. He would win the contest with an event to spare ahead of runner up Jesse Marunde, who with 3rd place Dominic Filiou became the first non-Europeans to reach the podium of WSM since O.D. Wilson in 1990.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The 2006 competition ended in dramatic fashion: in the final, Mariusz Pudzianowski started well by coming tied-1st in the Deadlift and winning the Power Stairs easily; but by then winning the last 5 events in a row, Phil Pfister edged out the Pole in the final event, the Atlas stones. Pfister became the first American to win the competition since 1982, and the first American ever to win the competition outside the United States.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Pudzianowski regained his crown in 2007, winning the contest with an event to spare. Fellow Pole Sebastian Wenta claimed 2nd place, with Britain's Terry Hollands rounding out the podium.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In 2008, Derek Poundstone had a large lead over Mariusz Pudzianowski after 3 events but Pudzianowski tied the Deadlift event for first place and then won the crucial Plane Pull to narrow the gap. Pudzianowski and Poundstone then battled for the title of World's Strongest Man in the last event, the Atlas Stones. Pudzianowski blistered through the event and was able to keep pace with the heavier Poundstone. On the final stone, Pudzianowski was able to capitalize on Poundstone's drop and clinched his fifth title.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In 2009, the long-running IFSA/WSM split had ended resulting in finally having all of the top strongmen from around the world all in the same contest. Two-time IFSA World Champion Žydrūnas Savickas would return to the contest after 5 years, and claimed his first WSM title, with defending champion Mariusz coming in second in his final ever WSM contest. Another up and comer Brian Shaw placed third.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Žydrūnas Savickas repeated his victory in 2010, winning by countback against Brian Shaw in the closest finish in WSM history. Top IFSA competitor and fan favorite Mikhail Koklyaev finished third in his WSM debut. Savickas set a new world record in the Giant Wooden Log Lift with a lift of .


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In 2011, Brian Shaw and two-time defending champion Žydrūnas Savickas were tied on points going into the final event. Shaw defeated Savickas in the Atlas Stones, winning his first title. Over the next four years, the pair would trade the title back and forth.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Going into the 2012 contest, Shaw suffered from nerve damage in his hands and slipped down to fourth place. This opened the door for Savickas to capture his third WSM title, with fellow Lithuanian Vytautas Lalas coming in second and the Icelandic giant Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson finishing third. Savickas set a new world record in the Log Lift with a lift of .


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Shaw would regain his title in 2013, ahead of Savickas (2nd) and Björnsson (3rd). The 2014 contest was one of the closest battles in WSM history, with these three men separated by just two points going into the Atlas Stones. Savickas clinched the title by just half a point ahead of Björnsson, and just 3 ahead of Shaw, becoming the fourth man to win four titles. This victory made Savickas the oldest athlete to ever win the title at the age of 38 years and 8 months.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Shaw would defeat Savickas once again in 2015, with the title coming down to the two of them in the final event for the 4th time. Björnsson finished on the podium yet again, with Britain's Eddie Hall coming in 4th. Savickas didn't compete in 2016, as Shaw successfully defended his title and joined Savickas on four titles. Björnsson made a 5th podium finish as the runner up, as Hall continued his steady rise to finish 3rd, despite placing last in the first event.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: In the 2017 contest, two four-time winners (Brian Shaw and Žydrūnas Savickas) competed head-to-head for the first time since the 2015 contest, but Eddie Hall won his first title over runner-up Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson by 1 point and was the first person to win for the UK since Welshman Gary Taylor in 1993. Hall also set a new strongman deadlift world record with a regular bar at performed with just straps.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson won the 2018 after three 3rd place and three 2nd place finishes and became the first Icelander since Magnús Ver Magnússon in 1996 to win the title. Mateusz Kieliszkowski of Poland finished second and four-time winner Brian Shaw of the United States third. Žydrūnas Savickas, also a four-time winner, finished tenth after withdrawing in event four due to an injury.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The 2019 contest was held in Bradenton, Florida. The contest was won by Martins Licis of the United States who defeated defending champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson of Iceland. Björnsson suffered an injury, plantar fasciitis, in the qualifying heats but was able to complete the competition and finish 3rd on the podium, with Kieliszkowski finishing as the runner up for the second consecutive year. This year also saw brothers Tom and Luke Stoltman both qualify for the final, becoming the first brothers to both reach the final in history. A new format which included only 25 instead of 30 competitors was used and the entire competition only ran for 4 days instead of the usual 5+. The final was reduced to 5 events and took only one day. The new format was designed to streamline the editing for a quicker television turnaround.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 contest, initially planned to be held in May at Bradenton, was postponed to November instead. In place from May through July was a special series called ""World's Strongest Man: Home Edition"" on Snapchat Discover, where participating strongman athletes filmed themselves at home recreating strongman events in creative ways, and fans could vote for their favourites. The series was hosted by Eddie Hall. Rongo Keene was declared the winner, earning him a $10,000 prize.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The 2020 contest was to be held on Anna Maria Island from 11 to 15 November, with no physical spectators allowed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Because of bad weather conditions brought about by Hurricane Eta, the first two days were instead pushed back a day, removing the rest day planned on 13 November. For the first time in WSM history, none of the podium finishers from the previous year (Mariusz Pudzianowski was originally a podium finisher in 2004 before failing a drugs test) would compete in the contest. (Both Licis and Kieliszkowski were injured, whereas Björnsson had retired to focus on his boxing match with Eddie Hall). The contest was won by Oleksii Novikov, who set a new partial deadlift record of 537.5 kg (1,185 lbs) during the finals. Tom Stoltman came in 2nd place winning 3 of 6 events, while Jean-François Caron came in 3rd.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The 2021 edition of the contest took place in Sacramento, California from 15 to 20 June. Defending champion Novikov failed to advance from his qualifying heat, after finishing 4th in a tightly fought group which saw just one point separating 1st and 4th position. Tom Stoltman would improve on his second place finish the year before to claim his first title after defeating four-time champion Brian Shaw head-to-head in the Atlas Stones, and became the first Scotsman to win the title. Shaw would finish second, his best placing since his 4th title in 2016, and his first podium finish since 2018, while Canada's Maxime Boudreault would place third in his first WSM final.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The 2022 contest was shaping up to be one of the best contests yet, with 2019 champion Martins Licis returning, and 4 former champions in the competition. Unfortunately, Mateusz Kieliszkowski was once again forced to withdraw due to injury. Tom Stoltman successfully defended his title, winning by 10.5 points over Licis (in 2nd) and Oleksii Novikov, who placed 3rd despite winning 3 of the 6 events in the final.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Initially, eight men representing various sports and strength disciplines were invited to compete against each other in unique events designed to test each individual to the fullest extent. The earliest events were relatively crude, but new ideas were introduced over the years. Some events had a basis in both powerlifting and Highland Games heavy events, and others were created based on mythological feats of strength. There are a number of events that make up each competition.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Beginning in 2017, the qualifying format was changed. After five events, the leader clinches a spot in the final while the last place competitor is eliminated from the competition. To determine the second finalist of the group, a new event called Last Man Standing was added. An Atlas Stone is placed at the center of an octagon and, one at a time, the competitors must lift the stone and drop it over a 55-inch metal bar. They each have twenty seconds to do this, and once one cannot complete the drop, he is eliminated and the next highest scoring competitor entering the event takes his turn. The competition continues in stepladder fashion, beginning with the fourth and fifth place competitors, until only one remains; that competitor is declared the winner of the event and secures the second place in the final for the qualifying group.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The 2018 competition used the Atlas Stones event to determine the second finalist. The three lowest scorers were eliminated from the competition, and the second and third place finishers squared off with the winner advancing to the final.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The 2019 competition saw the return of Last Man Standing, but instead of featuring the remaining four competitors, only the second and third place competitors square off to determine the second finalist.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Australia, Bulgaria, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Fiji, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Samoa, Serbia, and Slovenia as of 2019 have all placed in the Top 10 but have not yet won a medal.


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Most WSM 3rd place finishes: 4 – Brian Shaw (2009, 2014, 2017, 2018) and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (2012, 2013, 2015, 2019)


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Longest Time Between First and Last Championships: 6 years – Jón Páll Sigmarsson (1984–1990) and Mariusz Pudzianowski (2002–2008)


title: World's Strongest Man

text: Longest Time Between First and Last Qualifications For Final: 16 years – Žydrūnas Savickas (2002–2018)


title: World's Strongest Man

text: The WSM Hall of Fame was created in 2008 to recognize the greatest competitors in the history of the contest. As of 2022, there are six members of the WSM Hall of Fame; Svend Karlsen, Bill Kazmaier, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Magnús Ver Magnússon, Magnus Samuelsson and Jón Páll Sigmarsson.


title: Ti West

text: Timon C. West (born October 5, 1980) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and occasional actor, best known for his work in horror films. He directed the horror films "The Roost" (2005), "The House of the Devil" (2009), "The Innkeepers" (2011), "The Sacrament" (2013), "X" and its prequel "Pearl" (both 2022), and the Western "In a Valley of Violence" (2016). He has also acted in a number of films, mostly in those directed by either himself or Joe Swanberg.


title: Ti West

text: West was born in Wilmington, Delaware. His given name Timon was the surname of his maternal grandfather. He was featured in a 2001 fall issue of "Teen People" magazine. West attended the School of Visual Arts.


title: Ti West

text: West's directorial work includes the 2001 short "The Wicked", and feature films "The Roost" (2005), "Trigger Man" (2007), "The House of the Devil" (2009), "The Innkeepers" (2011), and "The Sacrament" (2013). He appeared in 2004's "The Woman Who Split Before Dinner" as Old Man Conrad. In 2009, West wrote, produced and directed the web series "Dead & Lonely" for IFC Films. The first series run ended in October 2009. West disowned the 2009 horror film "", citing massive interference and re-editing as the reasons. He wanted to remove his name completely from the film and give directing credit to Alan Smithee, but his request was denied.


title: Ti West

text: West was set to direct "The Haunting in Georgia", the sequel to "The Haunting in Connecticut", but left the project in March 2010. In 2012, he worked with Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Joe Swanberg, Glenn McQuaid and the Radio Silence Productions hosts Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Chad Villella on the anthology horror film "V/H/S". He directed the segment "Second Honeymoon".


title: Ti West

text: In June 2015, it was reported that West would direct an episode of MTV's "Scream" television series. He directed the penultimate episode of the first season, titled "The Dance". He has also directed an episode of Jason Blum and Eli Roth's We TV horror series "South of Hell", titled "Take Life Now". West wrote, directed, produced and edited the Western film "In a Valley of Violence", starring Ethan Hawke, Taissa Farmiga, and John Travolta. It premiered at South by Southwest in March 2016.


title: Ti West

text: In late 2020, it was announced that A24 would produce a horror film titled "X", which would be directed by West and will star Mia Goth, Scott Mescudi, Jenna Ortega, and Brittany Snow. The film was released on March 18, 2022, to critical acclaim. While "X" was in production, filming in New Zealand was temporarily halted due to the country's lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to West spending the time writing a screenplay to a prequel. The film, "Pearl", was filmed back-to-back with "X" once production started up again. "Pearl" was released in September 2022 to critical acclaim. West later confirmed he was working on a third instalment in the series, a sequel to "X" titled "MaXXXine".


title: FTX (company)

text: FTX Trading Ltd., commonly known as FTX (short for "Futures Exchange") is a bankrupt company that formerly operated a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund. The exchange was founded in 2019 and, at its peak in July 2021, had over one million users and was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. FTX is incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda and headquartered in the Bahamas. FTX is closely associated with FTX.US, a separate exchange available to US residents.


title: FTX (company)

text: Since 11 November 2022, FTX has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the US court system. Public concern began when a November 2022 "CoinDesk" article stated that FTX's partner firm Alameda Research held a significant portion of its assets in FTX's native token (FTT). Following this revelation, rival exchange Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that Binance would sell its holdings of the token, which was quickly followed by a spike in customer withdrawals from FTX. FTX was unable to meet the demand for customer withdrawals. Binance signed a letter of intent to acquire the firm, with due diligence to follow, to ensure that customers could recover their assets from FTX in a timely manner, but Binance withdrew its offer the next day, citing reports of mishandled customer funds and U.S. agency investigations. On December 12, 2022, Bankman-Fried was arrested by the Bahamian authorities for financial offences, at the request of the US government.


title: FTX (company)

text: FTX's current CEO is John J. Ray III, who specializes in recovering funds from failed corporations. Speaking of its previous management, Ray states that "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here", adding that "...this situation is unprecedented."


title: FTX (company)

text: Sam Bankman-Fried and Zixiao "Gary" Wang founded FTX in May 2019. FTX began within Alameda Research, a trading firm founded by Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and other former employees of Jane Street in 2017, in Berkeley, California. FTX is an abbreviation of "Futures Exchange". Changpeng Zhao of Binance purchased a 20% stake in FTX for approximately $100 million, six months after Bankman-Fried and Wang started the firm.


title: FTX (company)

text: In August 2020, FTX acquired Blockfolio, a cryptocurrency portfolio tracking app, for $150 million. In July 2021, the venture raised $900 million at an $18 billion valuation from over 60 investors, including Softbank, Sequoia Capital, and other firms. Bankman-Fried bought out Zhao's stake for approximately $2 billion. In September of that year, FTX moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to The Bahamas.


title: FTX (company)

text: On January 14, 2022, FTX announced a $2 billion venture fund named FTX Ventures, raising $400 million in Series C funding at a $32 billion valuation that month. The FTX Ventures website went offline in November 2022. On February 11, 2022, FTX.US announced that the company would soon begin offering stock trading to its US customers.


title: FTX (company)

text: In February 2022, it was reported that FTX was creating a gaming division that would help developers add cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other blockchain-related assets into video games.


title: FTX (company)

text: In July 2022, FTX finalized a deal giving it the option to buy BlockFi for about $240 million. The deal included a $400 million credit facility for BlockFi.


title: FTX (company)

text: In August 2022, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a cease-and-desist order to FTX for making "false and misleading representations" about deposits being covered by FDIC insurance following FTX president Brett Harrison's tweet implying otherwise. Following the regulatory action, Harrison deleted the tweet and Bankman-Fried clarified in a tweet that FTX deposits are not insured by the FDIC.


title: FTX (company)

text: On September 26, 2022, FTX.US won its bid at auction for the digital assets of bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital. The value of the deal was approximately $1.42 billion, including $1.31 billion in Voyager-held cryptocurrency and $111 million in additional consideration. The deal was subject to approval by bankruptcy courts and Voyager's creditors. Following the FTX bankruptcy, in December 2022, the US subsidiary of Binance won the bid to buy the assets of Voyager for approximately $1 billion.


title: FTX (company)

text: On September 27, 2022, FTX.US President Brett Harrison announced he would be stepping down from an active role at the exchange but would stay on in an advisory capacity. The company did not immediately announce a replacement for Harrison, who had been FTX.US president since May 2021.


title: FTX (company)

text: In October 2022, it was reported that FTX was under investigation in Texas for allegedly selling unregistered securities.


title: FTX (company)

text: Bloomberg reported, in September 2022, on the close relationship between Alameda Research and FTX. Bloomberg noted that Alameda had functioned as a market maker for FTX early in the exchange's history, and that the trading firm remained, in June and July 2022, the biggest known depositor of stable coins on FTX. Bloomberg further stated that the regulatory oversight which applies to companies operating in traditional equities markets would have prohibited the relationship between the two firms were it applicable. Alameda's trading on FTX meant the trading firm was potentially in a position to gain financially when others lost money on the exchange. Bankman-Fried, at points, defended Alameda's use of FTX as a liquidity provider.


title: FTX (company)

text: According to John J. Ray III, Alameda had a “secret exemption” from FTX’s auto-liquidation protocol. Later, the existence of such an undisclosed beneficial relationship was described by Ray, the new CEO of FTX, as a "complete failure of corporate controls" and indicated gross mismanagement. Between early 2021 and March 2022, Alameda Research amassed crypto tokens ahead of FTX announcing the decision to list them for trading.


title: FTX (company)

text: According to anonymous sources cited by "The Wall Street Journal," FTX had lent $10 billion of its customers' assets to Alameda Research in 2022. Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison disclosed to other Alameda employees that she, Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh knew about that decision. An anonymous source cited by the "New York Times" said the same. According to the sources cited by "The Wall Street Journal", Ellison said the funds were used in part to pay back loans Alameda had taken to make investments. Ray said that FTX used software to conceal the misuse of customer funds.


title: FTX (company)

text: Several months after Bloomberg's initial report on the relationship between the two firms, on 2 November 2022, "CoinDesk" reported that a significant portion of Alameda Research's assets were held in FTT, the exchange token issued by FTX. It said that there were $5.1 billion worth of FTT tokens in circulation, and that Alameda's balance sheet held $3.66 billion of "unlocked FTT", $2.16 billion of "FTT collateral", and $292 million of "locked FTT". In the weeks immediately preceding the publication of the story by "CoinDesk", Bankman-Fried was characterized by anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg as "desperately" attempting to raise money for FTX. Additionally, Bankman-Fried had been publicly "dueling" with Changpeng Zhao on Twitter in the months preceding the "CoinDesk" article, in part due to disagreements stemming from their differing views on regulation of cryptocurrency.


title: FTX (company)

text: Several days after the publication of the "CoinDesk" article, on 6 November, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Twitter that his firm intended to sell all its holdings of FTT. Binance had received FTT from FTX in 2021 during a transaction in which FTX bought back Binance's equity stake in FTX. Zhao cited "recent revelations that came to light" as the motivation for selling FTT. "Bloomberg" and "TechCrunch" reported that any sale by Binance would likely have an outsized impact on FTT's price, given the token's low trading volume. The announcement by Zhao of the pending sale and disputes between Zhao and Bankman-Fried on Twitter led to a decline in the price of FTT and other cryptocurrencies, resulting in a three-day depositor selloff, like a bank run, of an estimated $6 billion that sent FTX into crisis. On 8 November, Zhao announced Binance had entered into a non-binding agreement to purchase FTX due to what he referred to as a "liquidity crisis" at FTX. The deal did not include the sale of FTX.US. Zhao announced on Twitter that the company would complete due diligence soon, adding that all cryptocurrency exchanges should avoid using FTT tokens as collateral. He also wrote that he expected FTT to be "highly volatile in the coming days as things develop". On the day of that announcement, FTT price dropped by 80 percent, erasing $2 billion in value.


title: FTX (company)

text: On 9 November, Bloomberg called the acquisition of FTX by Binance "unlikely" due to the poor state of FTX's finances. Bloomberg also reported that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission were investigating the nature of FTX's connections to Bankman-Fried's other holdings and its handling of client funds. Later that day, the "Wall Street Journal" reported that Binance would not move forward with the deal to acquire FTX. Binance cited FTX's reported mishandling of customer funds and pending investigations of FTX as the reasons for not pursuing the deal. Bankman-Fried said in a Slack message that FTX had learned through the press about Binance’s concern and decision.


title: FTX (company)

text: On 9 November, FTX's website said that it was not processing withdrawals at that time. Bankman-Fried said that although the firm's assets were worth more than its clients' deposits, it would need funds from outside to meet demand for withdrawals due to a lack of liquidity. Bankman-Fried stated on 9 November that FTX.US, as a separate company, was "not currently impacted" by the crisis.


title: FTX (company)

text: On 10 November, "Axios" cited anonymous sources who said that FTX approached Kraken for a potential rescue deal. Bankman-Fried made several statements on 10 November, taking responsibility for FTX's failure and indicating that FTX was still seeking capital to remain solvent. Bankman-Fried also announced that Alameda Research would cease trading and end operations. FTX's in-house legal and compliance teams had, for the most part, resigned by 10 November. Anonymous sources cited by the "Wall Street Journal" on 10 November said that Alameda Research owed FTX some $10 billion, as FTX had lent funds placed on the exchange for trading to Alameda so that Alameda could make investments with the money. On 12 November, anonymous sources cited by the "Wall Street Journal" said Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison disclosed to other Alameda employees that she, Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh knew that client deposits were transferred from FTX to Alameda. An anonymous source cited by the "New York Times" on 14 November said the same. According to the sources cited by "The Wall Street Journal", Ellison said the funds were used in part to pay back loans Alameda had taken to make investments.


title: FTX (company)

text: Though Bankman-Fried said on Twitter on 10 November that FTX.US customers did not have reason to worry, employees began attempting to sell assets belonging to the firm on the same day. These assets include stock-clearing company Embed Financial Technologies and the naming rights to FTX Arena.


title: FTX (company)

text: On 10 November, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas froze the assets of one of FTX's subsidiaries, FTX Digital Markets Ltd, "and related parties", and provisionally appointed an attorney as liquidator. Japan's Financial Services Agency ordered FTX Japan to suspend some operations. The company's Australian subsidiary was placed under administration.


title: FTX (company)

text: On 10 November, the team running the FTX Future Fund, a charitable group bankrolled by Bankman-Fried, announced that they had resigned earlier that day. Future Fund had committed $160 million in charitable grants and investments by 1 September of that year.


title: FTX (company)

text: On 11 November, FTX, FTX.US, Alameda Research, and more than 100 affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Delaware. Anonymous sources cited by the "New York Times" said that the exchange owes as much as $8 billion. The crypto lender BlockFi, which was affiliated with FTX, announced on 10 November that it was suspending operations as a result of FTX’s collapse. Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO and was replaced by John J. Ray III, a corporate restructuring specialist who previously oversaw the liquidation of Enron. As of 12 November, Bankman-Fried told Reuters that he was still in the Bahamas, though other high-ranking FTX employees had begun leaving for Hong Kong, the location of the company's former headquarters, or other locations. Authorities in the Bahamas, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, questioned Bankman-Fried on 12 November. Despite FTX's bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried continued to attempt to raise money for the firm during the weekend of 12 and 13 November.


title: FTX (company)

text: Late on 11 November, over $473 million in funds were siphoned from FTX through what Ryne Miller, FTX US's general counsel, characterized as "unauthorized transactions". Miller announced that FTX and FTX US intended to move remaining funds denominated in cryptocurrency to offline "cold storage" for security. The funds taken from FTX were mostly stablecoins such as Tether, and were quickly exchanged for Ether, a method used by cryptocurrency thieves to thwart attempts to retrieve stolen funds. A person speaking on behalf of FTX referred to the "unauthorized transactions" as a "hack" and encouraged users to delete FTX mobile apps as they were compromised. Kraken has since offered to assist in identifying the perpetrator. On 14 November, Kraken's chief security officer said on Twitter that the firm knew "the identity" of a user who paid transaction fees associated with moving the stolen money through their Kraken account. In an interview with Kelsey Piper published 16 November by "Vox", Bankman-Fried blamed an "ex-employee" or malware on a device owned by an ex-employee for the theft.


title: FTX (company)

text: According to anonymous sources cited by Reuters, between $1 billion and $2 billion in customer funds could not be accounted for as of 12 November. The "Financial Times" reported that FTX's balance sheet shortly before the bankruptcy showed $9 billion in liabilities, with $900 million in liquid assets, $5 billion in "less liquid" assets, and $3.2 billion in illiquid private equity investments.


title: FTX (company)

text: Bankman-Fried began publishing "cryptic" messages in sequence on Twitter on 14 November. As of 15 November, the messages read "What HAPPENED".


title: FTX (company)

text: On 17 November, John J. Ray III, the CEO brought in as a liquidator stated in a sworn declaration submitted in bankruptcy court that according to FTX's records, its subsidiary Alameda Research had lent $1 billion to Bankman-Fried and more than $500 million to FTX co-founder Nishad Singh as of 30 September. Ray stated that despite having been involved in the bankruptcies of Enron, Residential Capital, Nortel and Overseas Shipholding, "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here. From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented."


title: FTX (company)

text: The exchange token of Crypto.com, Cronos, lost approximately $1 billion in value in November, a decline attributed in part due to the collapse of FTX and in part due to reporting that Crypto.com had accidentally sent $400 million of Ether to another exchange. On 14 November, Crypto.com's CEO assured users that the exchange was functioning as normal. Commenters and customers remained fearful that Crypto.com could experience a collapse similar to FTX.


title: FTX (company)

text: BlockFi, a cryptocurrency lender, was reportedly taking steps to file for bankruptcy as of 15 November. The firm had earlier begun preventing withdrawals. The company disclosed "significant exposure" to FTX on 14 November. Another cryptocurrency lender, Genesis, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, halted withdrawals on 16 November. This halt caused Gemini, an exchange owned by the Winklevoss twins, to cease allowing redemptions for clients using a service provided through a partnership with Genesis. Another Digital Currency Group subsidiary, Grayscale, saw the value of its flagship offering, the publicly traded Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, decline by 20% over the two weeks preceding 17 November. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust was trading at a discounted price, 42% below the value of its Bitcoin, as of 14 November.


title: FTX (company)

text: Concerns have also been raised about Silvergate Bank, as FTX was a depositor and could have also been a source of credit exposure. Silvergate has said that it has ample liquidity and no loan exposure to FTX. These concerns have been magnified due to Silvergate's key role as a gateway between its cryptocurrency clients and the wider financial world.


title: FTX (company)

text: Institutional investors that stand to lose money due to their stakes in FTX include Tiger Global Management, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, SoftBank Group, BlackRock, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Temasek, and Sequoia Capital. Sequoia Capital wrote down its equity in FTX to $0 on 9 November, losing some $214 million. Sequoia released a notice to investors, also published on Twitter, assuring them the firm's stake in FTX represented a small amount of its overall portfolio, and replaced a profile of Bankman-Fried published on the firm's website with a link to the same notice. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan released a similar statement. Temasek later wrote down its investment on 16 November. Several public figures also invested in FTX or received compensation for promoting the company. These include football player Tom Brady, basketball players Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry, model Gisele Bundchen, and businessman Kevin O’Leary.


title: FTX (company)

text: Gisele Bündchen was also appointed the ESG advisor for the cryptocurrency platform. After its bankruptcy, investors sued her for her involvement and accused her of participating in FTX’s alleged scheme to take advantage of unsophisticated investors.


title: FTX (company)

text: Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, announced the firm was attempting to buy back a 30% stake in the business owned by FTX.


title: FTX (company)

text: Cryptocurrency investment firms with assets still held on FTX after its bankruptcy include Galois Capital and Galaxy Digital.


title: FTX (company)

text: Cryptocurrencies experienced swings and declines in value as news of FTX's collapse first emerged in early November: Tether dropped below its peg price of $1.00 to $0.97 and Bitcoin sank to its lowest price in two years. Share prices for publicly traded cryptocurrency companies declined. The price of Solana, which was affiliated with Bankman-Fried, declined as well. The crisis at FTX has inspired an increase in withdrawals from other exchanges. A decline in the value of Cronos, the token of exchange Crypto.com, triggered fears of the potential for a collapse similar to that of FTX and spurred withdrawals from the platform. CEO Kris Marszalek provided assurances that the firm was liquid and that it did not use Cronos in a manner similar to the way FTX used FTT. Bloomberg reported that the collapse of FTX exacerbated institutional skepticism of cryptocurrencies as an asset class.


title: FTX (company)

text: In December, it emerged that FTX had secretly invested in "The Block", a cryptocurrency news firm, and to fund an LLC its CEO Michael McCaffrey used to buy an apartment. Its staff said they had no knowledge of the investments. McCaffrey then resigned.


title: FTX (company)

text: Jim Chanos predicted the collapse of FTX would lead to increased scrutiny and regulation of cryptocurrencies. Chanos further criticized the cryptocurrency sector as "designed to extract fees from really unsuspecting investors". Richard Handler, CEO of American financial firm Jefferies Group, tweeted on 10 November that he had attempted to meet with Bankman-Fried in July and again in September as he perceived he was "in over his head". Handler stated that Bankman-Fried did not respond to the emails sent from Jefferies staff sent on Handler's behalf. The sudden collapse of FTX has been compared to bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers by writers in publications including "The New York Times" and the "Financial Times". Lawrence Summers acknowledged the comparisons to Lehman and further compared the collapse to the Enron scandal, caused by fraud perpetrated by Enron executives. Rostin Behnam, the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, called for Congress to grant the organization more power to regulate cryptocurrencies.


title: FTX (company)

text: Following the collapse of FTX, the Royal Bahamas Police Force launched a criminal investigation into the company.


title: FTX (company)

text: Anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg said that the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York had begun an investigation into FTX's collapse as of 14 November.


title: FTX (company)

text: The United States House Committee on Financial Services plans to conduct hearings in December on the collapse of FTX, and committee leaders said they would seek testimony from Bankman-Fried.


title: FTX (company)

text: According to anonymous sources cited by "The Information", some venture capital firms are considering suing Bankman-Fried.


title: FTX (company)

text: FTX sponsored a number of sports teams and organizations. Deals included the naming rights to the Miami Heat’s basketball stadium, renaming it FTX Arena, a partnership with Major League Baseball to place the FTX logo on the uniforms of umpires, and a deal with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team to add the FTX logo to their cars and merchandise. The professional esports organization TSM also had a naming rights deal with FTX, thus the organization became TSM FTX.


title: FTX (company)

text: Other sponsorships included the title sponsorships of the first season of MLB Home Run Derby X, and the title sponsorship of the tournaments FTX Road to Miami and FTX Crypto Cup as part of the Champions Chess Tour 2022.


title: FTX (company)

text: Following the bankruptcy of FTX in November 2022, Mercedes-AMG F1, TSM and the Miami Heat cut ties with the company, with the latter also announcing that they would be seeking a new naming rights partner for the FTX Arena. In December 2022, it was reported by "Financial Times" that FTX held talks with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift starting in the fall of 2021 regarding a $100 million sponsorship deal but negotiations were broken off the following spring without a deal being reached.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Roberto Baggio (; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former president of the technical sector of the Italian Football Federation. A technically gifted creative playmaker and set piece specialist, renowned for his curling free-kicks, dribbling skills, and goalscoring, Baggio is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. In 1999, he came fourth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll, and was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002. In 1993, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio played for Italy in 56 matches, scoring 27 goals, and is the joint fourth-highest goalscorer for his national team, alongside Alessandro Del Piero. He starred in the Italian team that finished third in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice. At the 1994 World Cup, he led Italy to the final, scoring five goals, received the World Cup Silver Ball and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team. Although he was the star performer for Italy at the tournament, he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout of the final against Brazil. At the 1998 World Cup, he scored twice before Italy were eliminated by eventual champions France in the quarter-finals. Baggio is the only Italian to score in three World Cups, and with nine goals holds the record for most goals scored in World Cup tournaments for Italy, along with Paolo Rossi and Christian Vieri.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In 2002, Baggio became the first Italian player in over 50 years to score more than 300 career goals; he is the fifth-highest scoring Italian in all competitions with 318 goals. In 2004, during the final season of his career, Baggio became the first player in over 30 years to score 200 goals in Serie A, and is the seventh-highest goalscorer of all time in Serie A, with 205 goals. In 1990, he moved from Fiorentina to Juventus for a world record transfer fee. Baggio won two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, and a UEFA Cup, playing for seven different Italian clubs during his career (Vicenza, Fiorentina, Juventus, AC Milan, Bologna, Inter Milan, and Brescia).


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio is known as "" ("The Divine Ponytail"), for the hairstyle he wore for most of his career, for his talent, and for his Buddhist beliefs. In 2002, Baggio was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In 2003, he was the inaugural winner of the Golden Foot award. In recognition of his human rights activism, he received the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in 2010. In 2011, he was the first footballer to be inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Throughout his career, including friendlies, Baggio scored 425 goals.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Roberto Baggio was born in Caldogno, Veneto, the son of Matilde and Florindo Baggio, the sixth of eight siblings. His younger brother, Eddy Baggio, was also a footballer who played 86 matches in Serie B.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio began his youth career after being noticed by his hometown youth team, Caldogno, at age nine. By the time he turned 11, he had scored 45 goals and provided 20 assists in 26 matches, also scoring six goals in one match. His talent was recognised by scout Antonio Mora, and he was acquired by the Vicenza youth team at age 13 for £300 (500,000 Lit). After scoring 110 goals in 120 matches, Baggio began his professional career with the Vicenza senior side in 1983, at age 15.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: At the age of 16, Baggio made his Serie C1 debut with Vicenza on 5 June 1983, a 1–0 home loss against Piacenza, in the final league match of the season, coming on as a second-half substitute. He scored his first goal in Serie C1 during the following season, on 3 June 1984, from a penalty in a 3–0 win against Brescia, the club with which he retired in 2004. Baggio scored the first professional goal of his career in the Coppa Italia Serie C in a 4–1 away win over Legnano on 30 November 1983. He also made his Coppa Italia debut with the club on 31 August 1983, against Palermo, and he scored his first Coppa Italia goal in a 4–2 away loss to Empoli, on 26 August 1984. During the 1984–85 Serie C1 season under manager Bruno Giorgi, he scored 12 goals in 29 appearances, helping the club to gain promotion to Serie B. Baggio began to draw the attention of larger Italian clubs, in particular Serie A side Fiorentina, and his playing style was compared to that of his idol Zico. Baggio was also awarded the Guerin d'Oro in 1985 as the Best Player in Serie C1.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: During the end of his final season at Vicenza, Baggio shattered both the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the meniscus of his right knee while playing against Rimini on 5 May 1985, while attempting a slide tackle. The injury occurred two days before his official transfer deal to Fiorentina had been finalised, and it seriously threatened his career, at age 18. Although several team doctors feared he would not play again, Fiorentina retained their faith in him, agreeing to commit to the transfer as well as fund the required surgery, one of many reasons for Baggio's attachment to the club.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Fiorentina purchased Baggio in 1985 for £1.5 million. During his time at the club, despite initial injuries, he became extremely popular, and is regarded as one of the club's best ever players. In his first season with the club, Baggio did not appear in Serie A as he was sidelined by injury; Fiorentina finished in fifth place in the league and reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, with Baggio making his club debut in the latter competition. He finally made his Serie A debut the following season on 21 September 1986, in a 2–0 home win against Sampdoria, and he also made his European debut that season on 17 September 1986, in an UEFA Cup match against Boavista. Baggio suffered another knee injury on 28 September, and he was operated again, requiring 220 stitches to have it rebuilt, losing 12 kg as a result and missing most of the season. Baggio returned, and scored his first league goal from a free-kick on 10 May 1987 in a 1–1 draw against Diego Maradona's Napoli, the eventual Serie A champions; Baggio's equaliser saved Fiorentina from relegation.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio led Fiorentina to a Coppa Italia quarter-final during the 1988–89 season under manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, scoring nine goals, as Fiorentina were eliminated by eventual champions Sampdoria. This season would be Baggio's breakthrough, as he scored 15 goals in Serie A, finishing third in the "capocannoniere" (top goalscorer) title. He also helped Fiorentina finish in seventh place in Serie A and win an UEFA Cup spot, assisting the only goal by Roberto Pruzzo in the tiebreak qualifier against Roma. He formed a notable attacking partnership with Stefano Borgonovo, and the pair scored 29 of Fiorentina's 44 Serie A goals, earning the nickname "B2". Baggio's performances elevated him to hero status among the fans, and he drew praise from several pundits. His characteristics led former Fiorentina playmaker Miguel Montuori to say Baggio was "more productive than Maradona; he is without doubt the best number 10 in the league", also stating that Baggio had "ice in his veins" due to his composure in front of goal.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Although Fiorentina were struggling against relegation during the 1989–90 season, Baggio led the club to the 1990 UEFA Cup Final, only to be defeated by his future club, Juventus. Baggio scored 1 goal in 12 appearances in the competition, in a round of 16 1–0 home win against Dynamo Kyiv, from a penalty, on 22 November 1989; this was his first goal in European competitions. He also scored the decisive penalty in the first round shootout against Atlético Madrid. With 17 goals, Baggio was the second-highest goalscorer in the 1989–90 Serie A season after Marco van Basten, and was awarded the Bravo Award as the best under-23 player in European competitions. He also placed eighth in the 1990 Ballon d'Or. With Fiorentina, Baggio scored 55 goals in 136 appearances, 39 of which were in Serie A, from 94 appearances.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In 1990, Baggio was sold to one of Fiorentina's rivals, Juventus, for £8 million, the world record transfer for a footballer at the time. He inherited the number 10 shirt, formerly worn by Michel Platini. Following the transfer, there were riots on the streets of Florence, where 50 people were injured. Baggio replied to his fans, saying: "I was compelled to accept the transfer."


title: Roberto Baggio

text: When Juventus played Fiorentina on 7 April 1991, Baggio refused to take a penalty, stating Fiorentina goalkeeper Gianmatteo Mareggini knew him too well. However, Luigi De Agostini, Baggio's replacement, missed the penalty and Juventus eventually lost the match. When Baggio was substituted, he picked up a Fiorentina scarf thrown onto the field, a gesture which, although appreciated by his former club's fans, caused outrage among the Juventus supporters, who were initially reluctant to accept Baggio. He claimed to be "always purple" in his heart, with purple being the colour of Fiorentina.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In this first season at Juventus, Baggio scored 14 goals and provided 12 assists in Serie A, often playing behind the forwards under Luigi Maifredi, although Juventus finished in seventh place in Serie A, outside the European qualification spots. However, Juventus did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup that year, a tournament in which Baggio was top scorer with nine goals, bringing his seasonal total to 27 goals. Juventus would ultimately be eliminated by Johan Cruyff's Barcelona "Dream Team". Juventus were also eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia to eventual winners Roma, with Baggio scoring three goals. Juventus also lost the Supercoppa Italiana against Napoli at the beginning of the season; Baggio scored Juventus's only goal from a free-kick. Baggio made his 100th Serie A appearance in a 0–0 draw against Lazio on 21 October 1990.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In his second season, under new manager Giovanni Trapattoni, Baggio finished runner-up to Marco van Basten for the Serie A top scorer title, scoring 18 goals and providing 8 assists, as Juventus finished runners-up to Fabio Capello's AC Milan in Serie A, and to Parma in the Coppa Italia final, in which Baggio scored in his club's 1–0 victory in the first leg from a penalty. It was during his second season with the club that Baggio came to be accepted by the Juventus fans, as he was seen as a leader around whom the club's play revolved. However, Trapattoni often deployed Baggio in a more advanced role, which led to minor disagreements between the player, his coach and Juventus management.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio was appointed team captain for the 1992–93 season. He had a dominant season, winning the only European club trophy of his career after helping Juventus to the UEFA Cup final, in which he scored twice and assisted another goal over both legs, defeating Borussia Dortmund 6–1 on aggregate. "En route" to the final, Baggio scored two goals in the 2–1 home victory against Paris Saint-Germain, in the first leg of the semi-final, and he went on to score the only goal in the return leg. Juventus also reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, losing on away goals to local rivals and winners Torino. Juventus finished fourth in Serie A that season, although they managed a 3–1 away win against the Serie A champions Milan, with Baggio scoring a memorable individual goal while also setting-up Andreas Möller's first goal of the match. One of the highlights of the season involved Baggio scoring four goals in open play against Udinese in a 5–0 Juventus home win. Baggio was once again runner-up for the Serie A "capocannoniere" title with 21 goals and 6 assists. He scored a personal best of 30 goals in all club competitions that season, in addition to five goals with the Italy national team. During the 1993 calendar year, Baggio managed a personal record 39 goals across all competitions, scoring 23 goals in Serie A, 3 in the Coppa Italia, 8 goals in European competitions and 5 goals for Italy, helping his national side qualify for the World Cup. Baggio's performances throughout the year earned him both the European Footballer of the Year, with 142 points from a possible 150, and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He was also awarded the Onze d'Or, and the World Soccer Player of the Year Award.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In the 1993–94 season, Baggio often played as a second striker alongside Gianluca Vialli or Fabrizio Ravanelli, and occasionally the young Alessandro Del Piero; Juventus once again finished runners up to Milan in Serie A, and Baggio finished third in the "capocannoniere" title with 17 goals and 8 assists, while the club suffered a quarter-final elimination in the UEFA Cup against Cagliari. On 31 October 1993, Baggio scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Genoa, which included his 100th Serie A goal; he also set up a goal for Möller during the match. Baggio made his 200th Serie A appearance on 5 December 1993 in a 1–0 win over Napoli. After sustaining an injury earlier that season, Baggio was operated on his meniscus in March 1994. Baggio placed second in the 1994 Ballon d'Or, third in the 1994 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was awarded the 1994 Onze de Bronze.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In the 1994–95 season, Trapattoni's replacement, Marcello Lippi, wanted to create a more cohesive team, less dependent on Baggio, who was deployed as an outside forward in a 4–3–3 formation. Baggio was injured for most of the season, being ruled out for over three months after sustaining a knee injury against Padova on 27 November 1994. After scoring from a free-kick, he was substituted by Alessandro Del Piero, who temporarily took his place in the team. Baggio returned to the starting line-up in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against Lazio in Rome on 8 March 1995, setting up Fabrizio Ravanelli's winner. On his first Serie A match back from injury, on 12 March 1995, Baggio scored Juventus' second goal in a 2–0 win over Foggia, and set up Ravanelli's goal. Due to his injury, Baggio only managed 17 Serie A appearances, but still contributed to his first "scudetto" with Juventus by contributing eight goals and eight assists. He provided assists for three of the goals in the title-deciding match against Parma, which Juventus won 4–0 in Turin on 21 May 1995. He helped Juventus win the Coppa Italia that year, notching two goals and two assists, scoring the winning goal in the second leg of the semi-final. He helped lead Juventus to another UEFA Cup final by scoring four goals, including two goals and an assist over both legs of the semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund. Despite Baggio's strong performance, Juventus were defeated in the UEFA Cup final by Parma.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio scored 115 goals in 200 appearances during his five seasons at Juventus; 78 were scored in Serie A in 141 appearances. In 1995, Baggio was nominated for the Ballon d'Or and placed fifth in the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year Award. He was also awarded the 1995 Onze d'Argent Award, behind George Weah. Baggio is currently Juventus' ninth-highest goalscorer in all competitions, and is the joint tenth-highest goalscorer for Juventus in Serie A, alongside Pietro Anastasi. He is the sixth-highest Juventus goalscorer in the Coppa Italia with 14 goals, and is also the joint fourth all-time Juventus goalscorer in European competitions, as well as the joint fifth all-time Juventus goalscorer in international competitions, with 22 goals, alongside Anastasi once again. In 2010, he was named one of the club's 50 greatest legends.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In 1995, Marcello Lippi, Roberto Bettega and Umberto Agnelli announced that Baggio no longer featured in their plans at Juventus and decided to focus on the emerging star Alessandro Del Piero, who would inherit Baggio's number 10 shirt. Baggio faced difficulties with Agnelli, Luciano Moggi, and Juventus management during his final season, as they stated they would only renew his contract if he reduced his salary by 50%. After strong pressure from AC Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi and manager Fabio Capello, Baggio was sold to the Milanese club for £6.8 million, amidst several protests from Juventus fans. At the time, Baggio had been linked with Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and English Premier League clubs Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Although Baggio initially struggled with injuries at the beginning of his first season with Milan, he came back into the starting line-up and was appointed the main penalty taker. He helped Milan win the Serie A title, notably scoring a goal against his former team Fiorentina from a penalty in the title-deciding match. Baggio finished the season with 10 goals in all competitions, in 34 appearances; seven of his goals were scored in Serie A, in 28 appearances, and he also provided 12 assists in Serie A, making him the top assist provider of the season. He became one of only six players to win the "scudetto" in consecutive years with different teams, and was voted the club's best player of the season by the fans, despite playing a more creative role. Towards the end of the season, Baggio had disagreements with Capello due to limited playing time, as Capello believed he was no longer fit enough to play for 90 minutes; although Baggio frequently started matches, he was often substituted during the second half; during the course of the season, he only played nine matches in their entirety, being substituted on 17 occasions, and coming off the bench twice.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: During the opening of the 1996–97 Serie A under new Milan manager Óscar Tabárez, Baggio was initially left out of the first team, with the former commenting "[t]here is no place for poets in modern football." Baggio was later able to convince the Uruguayan manager of his abilities and earn himself a spot in the starting line-up; he became the focal point of the team's offensive play, and was initially started in his preferred role behind George Weah, and on occasion as a left-winger or as a central-midfielder playmaker. After a series of disappointing results, Baggio was relegated to the bench, and Milan's former coach Arrigo Sacchi, also the former Italy manager with whom Baggio had argued following the 1994 World Cup, was called in as a replacement. Although their relationship initially improved, Sacchi gave Baggio limited playing time, and he soon fell out of form, along with the rest of the squad, which caused their relationship to deteriorate again. Milan failed to retain their league title, finishing the season in a disappointing 11th place, and they were knocked out once again in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. Baggio made his UEFA Champions League debut in the 1996–97 season, scoring his first goal in the competition, although Milan were eliminated in the group stage. Milan also lost the 1996 Supercoppa Italiana to Fiorentina, as Baggio was left on the bench. During his time at Milan, Baggio scored 19 goals in 67 appearances in all competitions; 12 of his goals were scored in Serie A, in 51 appearances, 3 were scored in the Coppa Italia in 6 appearances, and 4 were scored in European competitions, in 10 appearances.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In 1997, Capello returned to Milan, subsequently stating Baggio was not a part of his plans with the club. Baggio chose to move to Parma, but the manager at the time, Carlo Ancelotti, impeded the transfer, as he also did not feel Baggio would fit into his tactical plans. Ancelotti would later state he regretted this decision, stating that in his naïveté, he believed that the 4–4–2 formation was the ideal formation for success, and he felt that at the time, creative players such as Gianfranco Zola and Baggio were not compatible with this system.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio subsequently transferred to Bologna, aiming to save the squad from relegation, and earn a place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Baggio refound his form with the club and had a dominant season, scoring a personal best of 22 goals in Serie A, as well as providing 9 assists, leading Bologna to an eighth-place finish, allowing them to qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Baggio was the highest scoring Italian in Serie A that season, and the third-highest goalscorer in Serie A. His performances earned him a place in Italy's 1998 World Cup squad. Baggio also led Bologna to the round of 16 in the Coppa Italia, where he scored one goal in three appearances. Although he rose to hero status amongst the fans, he had difficulties with his manager Renzo Ulivieri, in particular when he was left out of the starting 11 against Juventus. Ulivieri later denied ever having any difficulties with Baggio. At the beginning of the season, Baggio cut off his iconic ponytail, signifying his rebirth. Baggio was named as Bologna's captain for part of the season, before handing the armband to Giancarlo Marocchi. Baggio made his 300th Serie A appearance while at Bologna, in a 0–0 draw against Empoli on 11 January 1998. Baggio received nominations for both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year due to his performances for Bologna and Italy that season. He was also nominated for the 1998 Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year and Serie A Footballer of the Year awards, losing out to Alessandro Del Piero and Ronaldo, respectively.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: After the 1998 World Cup, Baggio signed with his favourite childhood club Inter Milan in order to compete in the UEFA Champions League. After injuries, disappointing results, and several managerial changes throughout the season, including Luigi Simoni, Mircea Lucescu, and Roy Hodgson, Baggio struggled to gain playing time, and was used out of position as a winger, often as a substitute. Baggio scored 5 goals and provided 10 assists in 23 appearances during the 1998–99 season, as Inter finished in eighth place, missing out on a European spot. He helped Inter to a Coppa Italia semi-final, losing out to eventual winners Parma. Baggio scored a goal against his former club Bologna in a European play-off match, but Inter lost both matches, failing to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Baggio also scored four goals in the Champions League, helping lead Inter through the qualifying rounds to the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by eventual winners Manchester United, also scoring a memorable brace against defending champions Real Madrid in the group stage.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In the 1999–2000 season, Marcello Lippi, Baggio's former manager at Juventus, was appointed as Inter's new coach. Lippi did not favour Baggio and left him out of the squad for most of the season, stating Baggio was out of shape. In his autobiography, Baggio stated Lippi had dumped him after Baggio refused to point out which of Inter's players had expressed negative opinions about the coach, also highlighting an incident during a training session where he called out Christian Vieri and Christian Panucci for applauding Baggio for a notable assist.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio was used scarcely and often as a substitute, scoring 4 goals in 18 appearances during the regular Serie A season. He made five appearances in the Coppa Italia, with his only goal coming against local rivals A.C. Milan in the second leg of the quarter-finals, as he helped Inter reach the final, only to be defeated by Lazio. Despite his limited playing time, Baggio still managed several important goals to help Inter to a fourth-place finish, alongside Parma, such as his match winning goal against Hellas Verona, which he scored after coming off the bench, after being excluded from the team since 18 December 1999. Baggio had also previously helped to set up Inter's equaliser during the match. This was the first time Baggio had scored for Inter since his goal on 27 May of the previous season, and in the post-match the interview, he denied accusations made by Lippi in regard to his personal form.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio's last important contribution to Inter was scoring two memorable goals against Parma in the play-off match for the last remaining Champions League place, which Inter won 3–1; Lippi had been forced to field Baggio due to several injuries. Baggio was given a perfect 10 rating from the Italian sports newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport", which described his performance as "absolutely perfect all game". This match is considered an example of professionalism shown by Baggio, as Inter president Massimo Moratti had stated Lippi would only stay on if the team qualified for the Champions League.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: After two years with Inter, Baggio decided not to renew his expiring contract due to his conflicts with Marcello Lippi, making him a free agent at age 33. He was linked with several Serie A clubs, such as Napoli and Reggina, and also various Premier League and La Liga clubs, including Barcelona. Baggio ultimately transferred to Serie A newcomers Brescia under head coach Carlo Mazzone, aiming to save them from relegation; he remained in Italy in order to have a greater opportunity of being called up for the 2002 World Cup. He was made captain and was given the number 10 shirt, playing as an attacking midfielder.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Despite injury problems during the first half of the season, Baggio re-found his form and managed ten goals and ten assists in the 2000–01 season. Brescia finished in a joint seventh place, their best Serie A finish since the league's re-establishment in 1946, and qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup, also reaching the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, losing to eventual winners Fiorentina. Baggio helped Brescia to the final of the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup, where they were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain on away goals. Baggio scored one goal in the tournament, in the final from a penalty. His performances earned him a nomination for the 2001 Ballon d'Or, and he finished 25th overall in the rankings. Baggio was one of the best offensive playmakers in the league, winning the Guerin d'oro Award in 2001, awarded by the Italian sports magazine "Guerin Sportivo", to the player with the highest average rating throughout the season with at least 19 appearances.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: At the start of 2001–02 season, Baggio scored eight goals in the first nine matches, leading him to the top of the Serie A goalscoring table. In his eighth league appearance of the season, against Piacenza, Baggio scored a goal but later suffered an injury. A week later, against Venezia, he scored from a penalty, but he endured a more serious injury following a hard challenge which caused him to tear the ACL of his left knee, keeping him out of action for four months. He suffered a second serious injury that season, tearing the meniscus in his left knee, after returning to the team, and coming off the bench, in the Coppa Italia semi-final against Parma on 31 January 2002. He was operated on 4 February 2002 and he returned for three matches before the end of the season, making a recovery in 76 days. On 21 April 2002, in the first game after his comeback, Baggio came on as a substitute to score two goals against Fiorentina, helping Brescia win the match. He scored again against Bologna, saving Brescia from relegation on the final matchday, and bringing his seasonal tally to 11 goals in 12 Serie A matches. Despite Baggio's performances and public demand, Italy national team head coach Giovanni Trapattoni did not deem him fully fit, prompting the coach to leave Baggio out of the final squad for the 2002 World Cup. Trapattoni also expressed concern about bringing Baggio to the World Cup due to the presence of Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero in his role, believing that this could create a rivalry between the players. After missing out on the tournament, Baggio reversed his initial decision to retire after the World Cup, expressing his intention to surpass the 200 Serie A goal mark.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio maintained a high level of performance under new coach Gianni De Biasi. Baggio managed 12 goals and 9 assists during the 2002–03 season, helping Brescia to an eighth-place finish and another UEFA Intertoto Cup spot. He scored his 300th career goal from a penalty on 15 December 2002, in Brescia's 3–1 home victory over Perugia, also setting-up one of Igli Tare's goals.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In the 2003–04 season, the final season of his career, Baggio recorded 12 goals and 11 assists. He scored his 200th goal in Serie A in a 2–2 draw against Parma on 14 March 2004, saving Brescia from relegation, as they finished the season in 11th place. Baggio was the first player in almost 30 years to surpass the 200-goal milestone, and is currently only one of seven players to have accomplished the feat. Baggio scored his final and 205th Serie A career goal on the second last matchday, in a 2–1 home win over Coppa Italia winners Lazio on 9 May 2004; he also set up Brescia's first goal in that match. Baggio played his last career match on 16 May 2004 on the final matchday of the season at the San Siro against Milan, which ended in a 4–2 loss to the Serie A champions; during the game, he set-up Matuzalém's second goal. In the 88th minute, De Biasi substituted Baggio, prompting the 80,000 present at the San Siro to give him a standing ovation; Milan's captain, defender Paolo Maldini, who was Baggio's former teammate both with the Italy national team and Milan, also embraced him before he left the pitch.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: With Brescia, Baggio scored 46 goals in 101 appearances in all competitions, scoring 45 goals in 95 Serie A appearances, and one goal in two European matches. Baggio also made four Coppa Italia appearances with Brescia. Baggio retired as Brescia's all-time leading goalscorer in Serie A. He ended his career with 205 goals in Serie A, making him the seventh-highest scorer of all time, behind Silvio Piola, Francesco Totti (who overtook him in 2011), Gunnar Nordahl, Giuseppe Meazza, José Altafini, and Antonio Di Natale (who overtook him in 2015). Baggio's number 10 shirt was retired by Brescia in his honour, and he is considered the club's greatest ever player. Before Baggio had joined Brescia, they had never been able to avoid relegation after being newly promoted to Serie A, in over 40 years. During the four years under Baggio, Brescia recorded their best ever Serie A run and were never relegated.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio totalled 27 goals in 56 caps for his national team at senior level, making him Italy's fourth-highest all-time goalscorer, tied with Del Piero, who managed the tally in 91 appearances. At youth level, he was capped for the Italy U16 on four occasions in 1984, scoring three goals. Under Cesare Maldini, he was called up for one Italy under-21 match against Switzerland on 16 October 1987, although he was an unused substitute, and strangely failed to make an appearance for the "azzurrini".


title: Roberto Baggio

text: His first senior International call-up was given to him by manager Azeglio Vicini, and he made his first appearance for Italy on 16 November 1988 at age 21 in a 1–0 friendly victory over the Netherlands, assisting Gianluca Vialli's match-winning goal. He scored his first goal for Italy on 22 April 1989, from a free-kick in a 1–1 draw against Uruguay in an international friendly in Verona. Later that year, in his following international appearance in Italy's friendly against Bulgaria, held in Cesena on 20 September, he scored his first brace for Italy in a 4–0 victory, also later assisting Andrea Carnevale's goal with a cross from a free kick, and contributing to Nikolay Iliev's own goal by setting-up Vialli, whose shot was subsequently deflected by the Bulgarian defender.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio was called up for his first World Cup tournament in 1990, on home soil. Baggio was often used as a substitute, appearing in five matches, but only starting in four of them, as Italy manager Azeglio Vicini preferred the more experienced Gianluca Vialli. Baggio was still able to display his ability throughout the tournament, and Vicini's decision not to use him more frequently was later criticised, as Baggio's creative combinations with Salvatore Schillaci were praised. Baggio scored twice during the tournament, including the "goal of the tournament" in a 2–0 win in his first competitive international fixture, in Italy's final group match against Czechoslovakia. The goal, which drew him comparisons with Giuseppe Meazza, involved an exchange with Giuseppe Giannini on the left wing, followed by a dribbling run from midfield, in which Baggio beat several players, wrong-footing the last defender with a feint, before putting the ball past the goalkeeper. This goal was later recognised as the seventh-best goal in World Cup history in a FIFA poll.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In the round of 16 match against Uruguay, which Italy won 2–0, Baggio started the play which led to Italy's first goal, scored by Schillaci. Baggio also scored a goal from a direct free-kick, but it was disallowed as the referee had awarded an indirect free-kick. Baggio also had a goal incorrectly ruled offside in the quarter-final against the Republic of Ireland, which Italy won 1–0; Baggio was once again involved in the build-up which led to Schillaci's match winning goal. Italy were eliminated on penalties against defending champions Argentina in the semi-finals after a 1–1 draw, although Baggio was able to score his penalty in the shootout. Baggio had come off the bench in the second half for Giannini, and came close to winning the match with a free-kick, but it was saved by Sergio Goycochea.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In the bronze medal match against England, Baggio returned to the starting line-up, playing behind Schillaci. He scored Italy's first goal of the match after stealing the ball from Peter Shilton. David Platt momentarily equalised, but with five minutes left on the clock, Baggio set up Schillaci, who was fouled inside the area by Paul Parker. Although Baggio was the regularly designated penalty taker for his national team, he stepped aside to allow Schillaci to score and capture the Golden Shoe, a gesture which was praised by the Italian media. Baggio assisted a goal by Nicola Berti in the dying minutes of the match, but it was incorrectly ruled offside. Italy won the match 2–1, capturing the third place medal.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Following the World Cup, Baggio was not called up often by Vicini for the Euro 1992 Qualification matches, only making three appearances and scoring two goals as Italy failed to qualify for the tournament, finishing second in their qualifying group behind the Soviet Union.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Under Italy's new manager, Arrigo Sacchi, Baggio was his team's top scorer during their qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup, scoring five goals of the team's 14 goals in the eight games in also providing seven assists. He helped Italy top their group and qualify for the 1994 World Cup, notably contributing to Dino Baggio's winner in the decisive final group match against Portugal, which secured Italy's place in the final competition. One of his best performances during the qualifying campaign occurred on 14 October 1992 against Switzerland; Italy were trailing 2–0 at home and Baggio led his team to a 2–2 draw comeback, scoring a goal. Under Sacchi, Baggio made his first and only starting appearance as Italy's captain in the 1994 World Cup qualifying match in Glasgow against Scotland on 18 November 1992. However, he was substituted off in the final minutes of the 0–0 draw after injuring his rib.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Despite a series of injuries prior to the tournament, Baggio was expected to be one of the stars of the 1994 World Cup, entering the competition as the reigning Ballon d'Or winner and FIFA World Player of the Year, and at the peak of his career; after a lacklustre start, he led his team to the final with three match winning performances in the knockout rounds, wearing the number 10 shirt, and scoring five goals in the process. In a disappointing first match against Republic of Ireland at Giants Stadium, New Jersey, Italy were defeated 1–0. In the second match against Norway, he appeared more inspired; however, Italy goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off for handling the ball outside the area. Luca Marchegiani was brought in to replace him, and Arrigo Sacchi decided to sacrifice Baggio in what produced an outcry amidst the fans. Baggio later stated that Sacchi was "crazy." Italy won the match 1–0. Italy continued to disappoint, as their final group match ended in a 1–1 draw against Mexico, and he again failed to influence the result. The Italians finished third in their group, drawing much criticism from the press, and only advancing from the first round as the fourth-best third-placed team; Juventus president Gianni Agnelli famously called Baggio "un coniglio bagnato" ("a wet rabbit"), referring to his despondent demeanour, hoping the jab would spur him on to score.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: After under-performing during the group stage, Baggio refound his form in the knockout stages, where he scored five memorable goals. He scored two in the round of 16, helping a ten-man Italy defeat Nigeria 2–1 at Foxboro Stadium in Boston, after trailing for most of the match. He scored his first goal of the match with two minutes left on the clock, after receiving ball at the edge of the area from Roberto Mussi. He then went on to score the winning goal from a penalty in extra time after setting up Antonio Benarrivo with a lobbed pass, who was then fouled in the penalty area.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio scored another match-winning goal in the quarter-finals to defeat Spain 2–1 with three minutes remaining. After receiving the ball from Giuseppe Signori, he dribbled past the Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, scoring off-balance from a tight angle. He was also involved in the build-up which led to Italy's first goal by his unrelated namesake Dino Baggio. Baggio gave a man of the match performance in the semi-finals; he scored two more goals to beat Bulgaria 2–1 at Giants Stadium, leading Italy to the World Cup final for the first time in 12 years. He scored his first goal after beating two players and curling the ball from outside the area into the bottom-right corner. His second was scored with a half volley from a tight angle, assisted by Demetrio Albertini with a lobbed ball.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio was not fully fit for the final against Brazil at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, after pulling his hamstring during the semi-final and playing with the aid of a painkiller injection. Despite being far less dominant than in previous matches, he still tested Brazilian goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel and was able to set up a few chances for his teammates. The match ended 0–0 after extra time; he took Italy's last penalty in the resulting shootout, but he put the decisive spot-kick over the cross-bar, which meant the Brazilians won the title, resulting in one of the most upsetting moments in World Cup history, and a miss with which his career would frequently become associated.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Baggio has described the infamous miss as the worst moment of his career, stating that it affected him for years. In his autobiography, when recounting the miss, he later reflected: "Penalties are only missed by those who have the courage to take them." Before him, two other Italians, Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro, had already missed penalties. Having led Italy to the final with his memorable performances, Baggio received the Silver Ball as the second-best player of the tournament, behind Romário, and also finished tied for second in goals scored throughout the tournament, although he missed out on the Bronze Boot, which went to Kennet Andersson and Romário. He was also named in the World Cup All-Star Team. Baggio finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or, with 136 points from a possible 245, and third place for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: Despite Baggio's association with missing the decisive penalty in the 1994 World Cup final shoot-out, former "Telelatino" broadcaster Alf De Blasis stated in 2010 that he believed that Baggio's performance throughout the entire tournament cemented his legacy as a footballer; he also stated that one of his favourite World Cup memories was Baggio's performance against Nigeria in the round of 16 of the tournament, commenting: "Roberto Baggio put the Azzurri on his shoulders and carried them to victory, scoring the tying goal on a wonderful solo effort late in the match and then the winning goal on a penalty in extra time. Baggio, of course, would go on to lead Italy to the final, where he is remembered for an unfortunate miss from the penalty spot. Truly a bittersweet World Cup for one of the game's greatest stars, but a World Cup that I think defined his legacy in the game." Reflecting on Baggio's performance at the 1994 World Cup in 2001, Stefano Bozzi of BBC Sport stated: "At the USA 94 World Cup, [Baggio] single-handedly hauled Italy to the final." In 2006, the BBC described him as "Italy's best player throughout the [1994] tournament." In 2017, Emmet Gates instead described Baggio's run-up to the 1994 World Cup final with Italy as "the greatest show of individual excellence since another equally majestic number ten [Maradona] dominated the 1986 tournament." When summarising Baggio's 1994 World Cup in 2018, Ed Dove of "ESPN FC" stated that "'[t]he Divine Ponytail' had arguably been the outstanding player of the tournament, bailing Italy out on numerous occasions, but his inspirational touch deserted him when it mattered most." His colleague Nick Miller instead stated that "Roberto Baggio was the best player at the 1994 World Cup, dragging Italy to the final virtually on his own."


title: Roberto Baggio

text: After the 1994 World Cup, Italy head coach Arrigo Sacchi and Baggio infamously fell out. Their relationship deteriorated in September 1994 following a 1–1 draw against Slovenia in a Euro 1996 qualifying match, where Baggio was benched. After a 2–1 defeat to Croatia in a Euro 1996 qualifying match in November, their relationship hit the breaking point, and Baggio, supported by his teammates, asked for the manager's dismissal. Due to his disagreements with Sacchi, Baggio was called up to the national team less frequently, only making one more substitute appearance in a 1–0 home win against Slovenia in a Euro 1996 qualifier in September 1995. He eventually lost his spot in the squad, missing out on Italy's Euro 1996 squad, despite winning the "scudetto" that year with Milan. Sacchi justified his decision by stating Baggio was not fully fit, and that Enrico Chiesa helped the team more when possession was lost. Italy were eliminated in the group stage of the competition. Baggio was also excluded from Cesare Maldini's Italian Olympic squad in 1996.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: After a lengthy absence from the national team, Baggio was called up by Cesare Maldini for a World Cup qualifying match against Poland on 30 April 1997, in Naples; Baggio came off the bench and scored a goal in a 3–0 win. He was subsequently selected as one of Italy's 22 players for the 1998 World Cup following his performances with Bologna.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In Italy's opening match of the 1998 World Cup in France, against Chile, Baggio started alongside Christian Vieri, playing all 90 minutes, as Alessandro Del Piero was still recovering from an injury. Vieri opened the scoring from a Baggio assist, but Chile managed to equalise and take the lead through Marcelo Salas. Baggio created several chances, but Italy were unable to equalise. Towards the end of the match, Baggio played a low cross into the box which unintentionally touched Chilean defender Ronald Fuentes's hand at the edge of the penalty area, resulting in a fortunate penalty for Italy. Despite missing the decisive penalty in the 1994 World Cup final shootout, Baggio stepped up to take the penalty, and he scored Italy's equalising goal, becoming the first Italian player to score in three World Cups. This was the first penalty he had taken for Italy since the 1994 World Cup final miss; Baggio described the goal as "liberating."


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In Italy's 3–0 second group match win over Cameroon, Baggio assisted Luigi Di Biagio's opening goal with a cross following a corner; however, he was replaced by Del Piero during the second half after sustaining a minor injury. Baggio scored his second goal of the tournament in Italy's final group match against Austria, which ended in a 2–1 win to Italy. Baggio came on during the second half, replacing Del Piero, after the crowd had begun to chant his name. He scored the winning goal of the match, after combining with Francesco Moriero and Filippo Inzaghi, as Italy topped their group. With this goal, he tied Paolo Rossi's record for most goals by an Italian player in the World Cup finals, with nine; this was also his 27th and final goal for Italy. He was left on the bench for the round of 16 win over Norway as Italy advanced to the quarter-finals.


title: Roberto Baggio

text: In the quarter-final match against eventual champions France, Baggio came on as a substitute for Del Piero in the second half, and managed to create some scoring opportunities. The score remained 0–0, and the match went to extra time, although Baggio came the closest to scoring the golden goal, with a volley from a lobbed pass by Albertini, but his shot was put just wide of Fabien Barthez's far post. The match eventually went to a penalty shootout. Although Baggio converted his penalty Italy's first, the shootout was won by the host nation and Italy was eliminated from a World Cup on penalties for the third consecutive time. Italy's coach was criticised for starting the recovering Del Piero ahead of Baggio, and for not allowing the two players to play alongside each other. Despite rumours that the substitutions had created a rivalry between the players, Baggio and Del Piero remain friends. In 2008, Baggio stated that he has great respect for Del Piero, and that there had never been disagreements between them. In turn, Del Piero expressed his admiration for Baggio in 2011.