Is this the worst football dive ever?

Italian football players often resort to theatrical diving to win a free kick and this is one of the worst we've ever seen.

This Oscar-winning performance from Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci last weekend has gone viral, even in the world of football that is unfortunately used to such theatrics.

Thankfully, referee Andrea De Marco knew exactly what was going on and awarded Bonucci a yellow card for his obvious attempt at deception.

Bonucci's yellow means he will now miss Juventus's next match through suspension. And we think it's a good thing too.

The most infamous dive we can remember, at least from an Australian point of view, was ironically from another Juventus defender Fabio Grosso.

In the final moments of Australia's 2006 World Cup match against Italy, Grosso won a penalty when he fell to the ground under minimal contact from Aussie defender Lucas Neill.

That penalty saw the Socceroos kicked out of the tournament, but it did generate the hilarious photo below.