Coppa Italia

For the Italian rugby competition, see Coppa Italia (rugby)

The Coppa Italia (Italy Cup, officially known as TIM Cup due to sponsorship) is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. AS Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has been to the most finals: 15 (Torino follows with 14). The holder can wear a "tricolore" cockade, like the roundels that appear on military aircraft, and obtains a UEFA Cup spot for the next season. Clubs that have won the competition 10 times are awarded a silver star, similarly to those who receive a gold star for winning the Scudetto 10 times. As of yet, no team has accomplished this feat though FC Juventus and AS Roma lie close to.

The tournament is known for its low attendances, mainly due to the fact that most teams consider the tournament of low importance and do not field their best line-up. While some top clubs may average over 50,000 for league games, often these same clubs will attract crowds of only around 30,000 for Coppa Italia matches. Interestingly, most domestic cups elsewhere in Europe attract large crowds. It is often only the final where the UEFA Cup spot is up for grabs, that larger crowds will attend the games.

The 2007–08 Coppa Italia final was played, like the three previous editions, between Inter Milan and AS Roma. The match was held in Rome on May 24 2008 and ended with a 2-1 win for Roma.

Formula and pairing teams

On June 28 2007, the format of the 2007-08 tournament was released. The new format reduced the number of competitors to the 42 teams which would play in Serie A and Serie B for the 2007-08 season; no Serie C teams would participate in the tournament. Also, the rather unusual two-leg final was eliminated. A single-match final would be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Roma.

The format for pairings was as follows:

• First phase: one-leg fixtures
• First round: The bottom 24 seeds (19-42) are paired
• Second round: The 12 first round winners are paired
• Second phase: one-leg fixtures
• 6 first phase winners and seeds 9-18 are paired
• Third phase: two-leg fixtures
• Round of 16: 8 second phase winners are inserted into a bracket with seeds 1-8
• Quarterfinals and Semifinals: Two-leg fixtures with pairings based upon bracket
• Final: one-leg fixture at neutral venue

Seeding teams

Seeding is allocated as follows:

a) seed 1 to last year's Italian Cup Winner.

b) seeds 2-8 to the participants playing in the Champions League/UEFA Cup competitions other than seed 1. If less than 8 teams are participating then the next highest placed Serie A team(s) complete(s) the list.

c) seeds 9-17 to the 9 remaining Serie A teams to 17th place.

d) seeds 18-20 to the 3 Serie B teams promoted to Serie A this season.

e) seeds 21-23 to the 3 Serie A teams demoted to Serie B this season.

f) seeds 24-37 to the 14 Serie B teams finishing to 17th place but not promoted to Serie A.

g) seed 38 to the play-out winner in Serie B.

h) seeds 39-42 to the 4 Serie C1 teams promoted to Serie B this season.

Winners by year

Performance by club