What is the Scudetto in Italy? Meaning, history, and past winners as Napoli, Inter Milan bid to be champions

Napoli and Inter Milan are battling to the wire to be crowned champions of Italy's Serie A in 2024/25.

The club from Naples is bidding to win the league title for the second time in three seasons. Prior to that, you had to go back more than 30 years for their last championship, when Diego Maradona inspired them to the title back in 1990.

The Italians do league titles slightly differently than other European countries, and The Sporting News details the tradition that will see either Napoli or Inter as the next team honoured.

MORE: How Inter beat Barcelona in the Champions League's "greatest semifinal"

What is the Scudetto?

The Scudetto has become synonymous with winning the Serie A title, but the Scudetto itself is not a trophy.

Despite the accepted jargon in Italy of "winning the Scudetto" being associated with winning the Italian league trophy, the Scudetto is more about symbolism than silverware.

The translation of a "scudetto" is a small shield or badge (the diminutive version of "scudo" or shield in Italian), and in this context it refers to the badge that can only be applied to the kits of the champions of Italy's top division (Serie A).

That badge, or scudetto, is a patch designed in the colours of the Italian flag and it is applied to the official team jerseys for the following season as a representative symbol of their place as the reigning champions and top team in Italy.

There is also a trophy that is given to the Serie A winners, and that silverware was first awarded in 1961, but it has taken a back seat to the more culturally significant Scudetto, which has caught on as the ultimate symbol of league success.

What does Scudetto mean?

Scudetto translates from Italian as "little shield", which refers to the Italian tricolour flag (green, white and red) inside a small gold shield.

That patch is stitched onto the champions' kits for the duration of the following season.

Only one team can don the patch in any given season, and that honour only goes to the defending champion.

Who has won the most Serie A titles?

Juventus have been the dominant force in Italy's Serie A since the league's inception in 1929, with the Turin giants winning an incredible total of 36 titles, compared to 20 for Inter and 19 for AC Milan.

In total, 16 clubs have won the Serie A title, but only Juventus, Napoli and the Milanese pair have won it since 2002.

List of Serie A winners

• Juventus (36): 1905, 1925/26, 1930/31 to 1934/35, 1949/50, 1951/52, 1957/58, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1966/67, 1971/72, 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1980/81, 1981/82, 1983/84, 1985/86, 1994/95, 1996/97, 1997/98, 2001/02, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2011/12 to 2019/20
• Inter Milan (20): 1909/10, 1919/20, 1929/30, 1937/38, 1939/40, 1952/53, 1953/54, 1962/63, 1964/65, 1965/66, 1970/71, 1979/80, 1988/89, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2020/21, 2023/24
• AC Milan (19): 1901, 1906, 1907, 1950/51, 1954/55, 1956/57, 1958/59, 1961/62, 1967/68, 1978/79, 1987/88, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1998/99, 2003/04, 2010/11, 2021/22
• Genoa (9): 1898, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1914/15, 1922/23, 1923/24
• Torino (7): 1926/27, 1927/28, 1942/43, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1947/48, 1948/49, 1975/76
• Bologna (7): 1924/25,1928/29, 1935/36, 1936/37, 1938/39, 1940/41, 1963/64
• Pro Vercelli (7): 1908, 1909, 1910/11, 1911/12, 1912/13, 1920/21, 1921/22 
• AS Roma (3): 1941/42, 1982/83, 2000/01
• Napoli: (3): 1986/87, 1989/90, 2022/23
• Lazio (2): 1973/74, 1999/00
• Fiorentina (2): 1955/56, 1968/69
• Casale (1): 1913/14
• Novese (1): 1921/22
• Cagliari (1): 1969/70
• Verona (1): 1984/85
• Sampdoria (1): 1990/91