Italy will go against Malta on Sept. 11, during the FIFA World Cup qualifying round.

Malta won three out of their last five games, beginning with a 0-2 victory over Israel in November 2011. However, Italy has not been as lucky - out of their last five games, they won only one, who two others determined only by a draw.

Malta has played in every FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign since 1974, but they have never gone far enough to be a contender in the final event. Their only qualifying victory was a 1-0 win over Estonia in 1993.

Watch the game live at 2:45 ET here or check out ESPN3.

According to a poll posted on the official site of the FIFA games, Italy is voted the likely winner in Tuesday's matchup. But on Friday, they ended with a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria and Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli said his team's performance was "not good enough" and that they must reassess their tactics to prepare for their game with Malta. They will also be playing without star player Daniele de Rossi, who injured himself in a previous game.

Malta already lost to Armenia 1-0 in the qualifying round on Sept. 7, and they are not getting support by many.

Jaws16 posted on the FIFA.com, "When will we see Malta at final tournaments? Probably never in our lifetimes."  One user even commented by stating, "Italy should finish top," and for good reason too.

Italy has competed in 17 of the 19 FIFA World Cup final games and already they have four world titles to their name, the most recent one from 2006. They are also the only other team, either than the Brazilians, to win the competition twice in a row.

However, out of the team that led the victory in 2006, the only player remaining is captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The rest of the players are "new," meaning they have never experienced an Italy win and have struggled to do so since '06. The Italians shockingly left after the first round in the 2010 South Africa games.

In October, Italy will go against Armenia and Malta will go against the Czech Republic.

Americans call it soccer, others call it football. Whatever the term is, the FIFA World Cup is hosted this year by Brazil and the sporting tournament is played every four years since it began in 1930, except when it was held off twice because of World War II. The current qualifying phase, also known as the Preliminary Competition, involves a total of 204 teams across six continents competing for 31 available spots in the 2014 World Cup Final Competition.  Teams compete in the preliminaries for three years leading up to the final competition.

Spain won the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup. 

Tags: Italy FIFA World Cup