This question comes up fairly often. Note that all of the linked answers are from 2015 at the latest, so newer answers would be welcome.

• When discussing Axis troops in WW2, the Italians and Romanians are often seen as weaker or inferior forces. the facts do seem to indicate that they were less effective than the German troops. Why? by /u/kieslowskifan
• Why was the Italian Army so pathetically inept during WWII? by the redditor formerly known as /u/Quirite
• How bad really was the WWII Italian army and what made them that way? by another redditor lost to history.