page_title: Luca Toni
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Luca Toni / International career
caption_attribution_description: English: Italy vs France, FIFA World Cup 2006 final, italian forward Luca Toni.
context_page_description: Luca Toni Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was also a sporting director for Verona.
  Something of a footballing nomad, at club level, Toni played for twelve different Italian teams throughout his career. A late bloomer, he spent several seasons in the lower divisions of Italian football, as well as promising spells with minor Serie A clubs Vicenza and Brescia, before finally making his breakthrough with Palermo: he helped the team to Serie A promotion during the 2003–04 season by winning the Serie B title, and was the league's top scorer with 30 goals; the following season, he helped the club qualify for Europe, scoring 20 goals in Serie A. After two prolific seasons with Fiorentina, Toni also spent three seasons with German side Bayern Munich, where he helped the club to a domestic treble during the 2007–08 season, also reaching the UEFA Cup semi-finals; after falling out with the club's manager during his third season with the team, and being demoted to the reserve squad, he later returned to Italy on loan with Roma in 2010, and subsequently had spells with Genoa and Juventus.
context_section_description: Toni scored 16 goals in 47 appearances for the Italy national football team. He received his first international call-up in August 2004 under manager Marcello Lippi, and subsequently made his debut for the Italian national team as a substitute on 18 August 2004, in a 2–0 friendly defeat against Iceland. He scored his first international goal on 4 September 2004, after coming off the bench in a 2–1 home win against Norway, in a World Cup Qualifying match.
  On 17 November, Toni made his first international start in a 1–0 friendly home win over Finland. On 11 June 2005, he captained the Italian squad for the first time in his career in a friendly match in New York against Ecuador, due to the absence of Fabio Cannavaro and other experienced players; he scored Italy's only goal in the eventual 1–1 draw. On 7 September, Toni scored his first international hat-trick in a 4–1 victory against Belarus in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match, becoming the first Fiorentina player ever to do so.
  Toni was selected to Italy's 23-man 2006 World Cup squad, and was given the number 9 shirt. In Italy's opening match against Ghana, he hit the crossbar as Italy won 2–0, and he later scored two goals in the quarter-finals against Ukraine on 30 June, his only goals of the tournament, as Italy won 3–0 to advance to the semi-finals against the hosts Germany. In the final against France, he hit the crossbar with a powerful header and later netted another header, although the goal was disallowed as the attempt was controversially ruled offside. Italy eventually defeated France 5–3 on penalties, after a 1–1 draw following extra-time, to win their fourth World Cup title; Toni finished the tournament as Italy's top goal-scorer, alongside Marco Materazzi, with 2 goals, also producing 20 shots and hitting the crossbar twice. He was also fouled 28 times throughout the tournament, more than other player. For his performances, Toni was named to the 2006 World Cup Team of the Tournament.
  On 28 March 2007, Toni scored two goals in Italy's 2–0 home win over Scotland in a Euro 2008 qualifier. After undergoing surgery due to an injury to his left foot which he had struggled to overcome since the beginning of the 2006–07 season, he missed Italy's next two qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Lithuania. He returned to action for his nation's qualification game against Georgia in Genoa on 13 October, and assisted Fabio Grosso, who scored Italy's second goal in a 2–0 win. On 17 November 2007, Toni struck in the first minute of a 2–1 win in a qualifying match against Scotland at Hampden Park, which secured Italy's place at the final stages of the competition. Four days later, he scored the second goal against the Faroe Islands, as Italy closed off their qualifying campaign with a 3–1 home win. He finished the qualifying round as Italy's top-scorer with 5 goals in six appearances.
  Toni was called up to the 23-man Italian squad for UEFA Euro 2008 by manager Roberto Donadoni, but his form in the tournament was disappointing, as he failed to score; he managed a goal in Italy's second group match against Romania, but it was controversially disallowed for offside, as Italy drew the match 1–1. Toni's main contribution for the team was winning a decisive penalty kick in the final group match against France, which ended 2–0, and allowed the Italians to progress to the knock-out round. Italy then bowed out of the tournament on penalties to eventual champions Spain in the quarter-final, following a 0–0 draw after extra-time.
  Despite disappointing at Euro 2008, Toni was called up by returning coach Marcello Lippi for Italy's first two 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Toni also scored an equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Greece, in an international friendly on 19 November 2008, which was his final international goal. He was subsequently named to Lippi's 23-man Italy squad that took part at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, and appeared in all three of his nation's group matches, although Italy disappointed, suffering a first-round elimination. Following the tournam
caption: Toni playing in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.
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