'Chasing the ball' - Italia '90, USA '94 and 2002 World Cup memorabilia to be exhibited in Ireland

The Italian Institute of Culture in Dublin, with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Ireland, is bringing an exhibition to Dublin which will showcase original material covering the 1990, 1994 and 2002 World Cups.

On January 5 2023, the exhibition "Chasing the ball" A display of football stickers featuring Ireland and Italy at the World Cup 1990-2002 will be launched at Printworks Building - Dublin Castle.

The opening ceremony on January 5th will be opened by the legendary Italian striker, Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci – the man who ended the odyssey of Italia ‘90 for Jack Charlton’s men, at their first-ever World Cup.

The project is promoted by the Italian Institute of Culture in Dublin and curated by FMAV - Museo della Figurina in Modena (Italy). The exhibition will display a series of albums, stickers, drawings and original materials which are related to the 1990, 1994 and 2002 editions of the World Cup – with a focus on Ireland and Italy along with their teams, players, opponents and matches played. It is a unique opportunity to re-experience a historic moment for the two countries.

Some 80 albums, 18 drawings representing the goals scored by the Irish teams, and much more, will be on display. These cover the three World Cup tournaments and comprise hundreds of trading cards. However, it is the history on the pitch, in the meetings between Ireland and Italy that provides a fascinating insight that goes beyond these tournaments. Sometimes the encounters turned into personal bonds, as the players went on to represent more than football.

The items on display have been loaned from the Gianni Bellini collection, with Bellini widely considered to be the world's leading collector of football trading cards and stickers. As a collector, he has attracted the attention of major international publications, including L'Equipe, and the football magazine FourFourTwo, in addition to TV networks like CBS, CNN and the History Channel.

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“The aim of the exhibition is to give visitors the chance to feel as if they actually attended the matches themselves and get to know the great World Cup players, most especially the tournament played in Italy, the first in which Ireland reached the knockout stages,” underlines Ruggero Corrias, Ambassador of Italy to Ireland.

“In the 1990 tournament, as well as the following one held in 1994 in the United States of America, the two national teams faced each other in matches that resulted in moments of great football and passion that delighted the supporters of both nations. These three tournaments are firmly imprinted in the minds of Irish and Italian fans alike for similar and sometimes contrasting reasons. Bitter disappointments, albeit with remarkable results, were met by the Italian national team; whilst the Irish team saw great results and a new-found soaring public affection.”

This free Exhibition will remain open at Printworks Building - Dublin Castle until January 22 2023. (Opening Times: Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm)