49 Fun Facts About Inter Milan

What has Inter alone in Italy never suffered?

Relegation. Founded in 1908, Inter has played in the top division every season since its debut in 1909, surviving even 1922, when it finished last in its group and stayed up through play-offs.

Inter split from the Milan Cricket and Football Club in 1908 over what issue?

Signing foreign players. The rebels wanted a club open to foreigners as well as Italians, named it Internazionale to say so, and made a Swiss, Hernst Marktl, its first captain.

Inter's 20th league title, in 2024, earned which shirt emblem?

Second star. Italian clubs add a star to the shirt for every ten league titles, and Inter clinched its 20th by beating its city rivals, AC Milan.

Inter's nickname 'Il Biscione' refers to which creature from Milan's old coat of arms?

A serpent. The biscione, a snake with a human figure in its jaws, was the emblem of the Visconti rulers of Milan, which is why it also appears on the Alfa Romeo badge.

Forced to merge by the Fascist regime in 1928, Inter spent years playing under which name?

Ambrosiana, after St Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan. The regime wanted the internationalist name gone, but supporters kept saying Inter, and the old name came back after the war.

By what name is Inter's derby against AC Milan known?

Derby della Madonnina. The statue of the Virgin Mary on top of Milan Cathedral gives the fixture its name, and the two clubs have shared one stadium since 1947.

Which company's name was on Inter's shirts for 26 years, from 1995 to 2021?

Pirelli. The Milanese tyre maker stayed on Inter's shirt for a quarter of a century, although it was Piero Pirelli, as chairman of rivals AC Milan, who had built San Siro in 1926.

Who is Inter's all-time top scorer?

Giuseppe Meazza. He scored more than 280 goals for the club, also spent two seasons with AC Milan, and the stadium the rivals share now carries his name.

Which owner bought Inter in May 1955 and went on to build the Grande Inter?

Angelo Moratti. The oil tycoon hired Helenio Herrera in 1960 and won two European Cups; his son Massimo bought the club in 1995 and added a third in 2010.

Helenio Herrera joined Inter in 1960 from which club?

Barcelona. He had won two Spanish titles there, but the club sacked him after a European Cup semi-final defeat to its great rivals in 1960, and he took his methods to Milan.

By what nickname was Inter's coach Helenio Herrera known?

Il Mago, 'the Wizard'. Herrera became as famous as his players, psyching them up before matches at a time when coaches stayed in the background.

Which Spanish midfielder, the 1960 Ballon d'Or winner, did Herrera bring to Inter?

Luis Suárez. Inter made him the world's most expensive player in 1961 to reunite him with Herrera, and he became the playmaker of the side that won two European Cups.

Which coach led Inter to the 2024 Scudetto and to Champions League finals in 2023 and 2025?

Simone Inzaghi. Hired in 2021 when the title-winning coach walked out, he stayed four seasons and left by mutual consent three days after losing the 2025 final.

In Herrera's catenaccio, which role did captain Armando Picchi play?

A sweeper, or libero. Picchi arrived as a right-back and was moved behind four man-markers, free to deal with any attacker who broke through.

Inter beat which club 3–1 in the 1964 European Cup final in Vienna?

Real Madrid. Sandro Mazzola scored twice in Vienna against a club playing its seventh final in nine years, and Inter were champions of Europe at their first attempt.

Which two-time winner did Inter beat in the 1965 European Cup final, played at home?

Benfica. Jair's shot three minutes before half-time was the only goal, and Inter had needed to overturn a 3–1 first-leg defeat at Liverpool just to reach the final.

Inter lost the 1967 European Cup final in Lisbon to which club?

Celtic. Mazzola's early penalty put Inter ahead, but a team of players all born within 30 miles of Glasgow came back to win 2–1 with two second-half goals.

Which club beat Inter 2–0 in the 1972 European Cup final in Rotterdam?

Ajax. Johan Cruyff scored both goals in the second half as the Dutch champions kept the trophy they had won for the first time a year earlier.

Which winger, famed for his 'dead leaf' free kicks, scored the winner in Inter's 1964 Intercontinental Cup play-off?

Mario Corso. With the tie level after two legs, a play-off in Madrid went to extra time before his goal made Inter the first Italian club to be world champions.

Which shirt number did Inter retire in 2006 in honour of Giacinto Facchetti?

3. Facchetti wore it for 18 seasons as Inter's attacking left-back and was the club's chairman when he died in September 2006, so the shirt was withdrawn within days.

Signings of Beckenbauer and Eusébio were cancelled after Italy's 1966 World Cup exit to which team?

North Korea. The 1–0 defeat so shamed Italy that its federation closed the league to new foreign signings, and the two stars' contracts with Inter were torn up.

Which striker led Serie A with 24 goals in Inter's 1971 title season?

Roberto Boninsegna. Inter had let him go as a youth player and bought him back from Cagliari in 1969; he repaid the club by leading the league's scorers two seasons running.

Which Argentine striker was Serie A's top scorer when Inter won its 20th league title in 2024?

Lautaro Martínez. He scored 24 league goals that season, and his late strike against Napoli had already won Inter the Italian Super Cup final in January.

Which defender spent a record 20 seasons at Inter after debuting aged 16 in 1980?

Giuseppe Bergomi. Team-mates called the teenager 'Lo Zio', the Uncle, for the moustache he already wore, and at 18 he was a World Cup winner with Italy.

Who coached Inter to the record-breaking 1989 Scudetto dei Record?

Giovanni Trapattoni. Two West Germans signed the previous summer drove a side that took 58 of a possible 68 points and finished 11 clear of Maradona's Napoli.

Which Inter player won the first ever FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1991?

Lothar Matthäus. He had captained West Germany to the 1990 World Cup, and his penalty in the 1991 UEFA Cup final helped Inter to its first European trophy since 1965.

Which Inter goalkeeper was IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper three years running, 1989–91?

Walter Zenga. Fans called him 'l'Uomo Ragno', Spider-Man, and he later took time out from football to act in an Italian soap opera before turning to coaching.

Inter's third UEFA Cup win, in 1998, was a 3–0 final victory over which club?

Lazio. It was the first UEFA Cup final decided in a single match on neutral ground, and three different South Americans scored Inter's goals.

Inter paid a world-record fee in 1997 for which striker, then broke the record again for Christian Vieri?

Ronaldo. The Brazilian cost more than any player before him, and within a year he was man of the match as Inter won the UEFA Cup final.

Which Argentine joined Inter from Banfield in 1995 and stayed 19 seasons?

Javier Zanetti. He played a club-record 858 games, captained the treble winners, and when he retired in 2014 the club withdrew his number 4 shirt.

Which midfielder did Inter sell to AC Milan in 2001?

Andrea Pirlo. Inter loaned him out twice in three seasons before letting him go; at Milan he won the Champions League in 2003 and 2007.

Which striker spent a single season at Inter, 2002–03, before being sold to Chelsea?

Hernán Crespo. Inter had signed him at the end of August 2002 to fill the gap left by its departed star striker, and Chelsea, hunting a proven European goalscorer, took him a year later.

Which scandal led the Italian federation to declare Inter champions of the 2005–06 Serie A season?

Calciopoli. Wiretaps showed club officials leaning on the men who picked referees; the side that finished first lost the title, and Inter, the best-placed club left unpunished, was named champion that July.

Inter's record 17 straight Serie A wins in 2006–07 came under which coach?

Roberto Mancini. The run lasted from October 2006 to February 2007, yet in May 2008 the club sacked him, days after he had won a third league title in a row.

Inter's five straight titles to 2010 matched a record which club later raised to nine?

Juventus, who won nine in a row from 2012 to 2020. The first of Inter's five was awarded off the pitch; the other four were won on it, the last as part of a treble.

Which coach took charge of Inter in June 2008 and won the treble two seasons later?

José Mourinho. He won the league in both of his seasons and every major trophy in the second, then left for Spain within a week of the Champions League final.

Who scored both of Inter's goals in the 2010 Champions League final?

Diego Milito. He had also scored the only goal of the Coppa Italia final and the winner that sealed the league title, so one striker settled all three parts of the treble in 17 days.

Inter beat which club 2–0 in the 2010 Champions League final?

Bayern Munich. Both clubs had already won their domestic league and cup, so the final decided which of them would complete the first treble in its country's history.

Inter received Samuel Eto'o plus a large cash sum in exchange for which player in 2009?

Zlatan Ibrahimović. The Spanish champions paid cash plus Eto'o for him; a year later Eto'o had won the treble with Inter, while the Swede had fallen out with his coach and left Spain.

Who coached Inter to the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup, only to lose his job days later?

Rafael Benítez. The 3–0 win over TP Mazembe was Inter's fifth trophy of 2010, but with the side 13 points off the top of Serie A, the club announced his departure five days later.

Which US firm took ownership of Inter in May 2024 after the previous owners defaulted on a loan?

Oaktree Capital. It had lent the money in 2021 to cover the club's pandemic losses; when Suning, the Chinese owners, failed to repay about €395 million, the lender took the club instead.

Inter's 2021 sale of which player to Chelsea set a record for a transfer by an Italian club?

Romelu Lukaku. Inter had made him the most expensive signing in its history only two years earlier, and he left for €115 million in the summer after the club won the league.

Which coach won the 2020–21 Scudetto, Inter's first in eleven years?

Antonio Conte. Within weeks of ending the club's eleven-year wait he had left by mutual consent, reportedly at odds with the club over its plan to sell players.

Who scored the only goal when Inter lost the 2023 Champions League final?

Rodri. His second-half strike in Istanbul completed a treble for Manchester City, 13 years after Inter had won one of their own.

Which club beat Inter 5–0 in the 2025 Champions League final?

Paris Saint-Germain. It was the French club's first European Cup and the widest winning margin yet seen in the final, against an Inter side that had lost only one of its 14 matches on the way.

Which former treble-winning player became Inter head coach in 2025?

Cristian Chivu. He had managed only 13 senior matches, at Parma, before taking the job, yet won the league and the Italian Cup in his first season.

Erick Thohir, who bought a majority stake in Inter in 2013, came from which country?

Indonesia. Thohir's consortium bought 70 percent of the club in 2013, and three years later it sold control to the Chinese retail group Suning.

According to tradition, Inter's black and blue colours represent what?

The night sky. On the founding night in March 1908 the painter Giorgio Muggiani wrote that 'this splendid night will give the colours to our crest: black and azure against the gold of the stars'.

Which Inter goalkeeper of 2012 to 2023 holds the Serie A record for penalties saved?

Samir Handanović. He equalled Gianluca Pagliuca's career record in 2020 and then passed it; a decade earlier, at Udinese, he had saved six penalties in a single league season.