A defensive midfielder, Vicini started playing football with his hometown side Cesena.

Two years later, he led Italy to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which was held on home soil, where they eventually finished in third-place, defeating England 2–1 in the bronze medal match.

However, after the team failed to qualify for the 1992 UEFA European Football Championship, he was replaced as Italy's head coach by former Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi.

Under Vicini, the Italy national team's more attacking style of play was combined with a solid back-line and elements of the Italian zona mista approach (or "Gioco all'Italiana"), which was a cross between zonal marking and man-marking systems, such as catenaccio.

Despite their more aggressive and modern attacking approach under Vicini, Italy were still pragmatic, conceding little defensively, while still creating more going forward.