The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes in the

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

, held every two years. Italy (along with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) is the most successful nation in the history of the competition, with five Championships won ( 1992,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, 1996,

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and 2004). Italy has also been twice runner-up of the competition, in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

. From 1990 to 2004 the team established near-total dominance of European Under-21 football, winning five of the seven tournaments. Italy's Under-21s played the first match at the new

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

, on 24 March 2007, against England Under-21s. The game resulted in a 3–3 draw, with

Giampaolo Pazzini Giampaolo Pazzini (; born 2 August 1984), nicknamed ''Il Pazzo'' ("The Madman") after his surname, is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Serie A with Atalanta, Fiorentina, Sampdoria ...

scoring all 3 goals for the Azzurrini. Prior to the 2008 Olympic games, Italy U-21s went on to win the

2008 Toulon Tournament The 2008 Toulon Tournament was the 36th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 20 May to 29 May 2008. Tournament finished with the final between Italy and Chile at Stade Mayol in Toulon as Italy had the title after the final score of ...

by beating Chile (1–0) in the final. It was the first time they had won this tournament, previously their best had been runner-up on two occasions.

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, Italy's record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown. * 1972: ''Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.'' * 1974: Losing quarter-finalists. * 1976: ''Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.''

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

:''*Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.''

Olympics football Record

Since 1992

Olympic football Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wo ...

changed to a U-23 event, and the European U-21 teams are technically U-23 teams. European national teams qualify for the Olympic football tournament through the UEFA European U-21 Championship. *Before 1992: ''See

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

'' * 1992: Quarter-Finals * 1996: Group Stage *

: Quarter-Finals * 2004: Bronze Medal *

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: Quarter-Finals *

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: ''Did Not Qualify'' *

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: ''Did Not Qualify'' *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

: ''Did Not Qualify'' *

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's f ...

: ''To Be Determined''

Overage players in Olympic Games

Mediterranean Games Record

Mediterranean Games Football tournament was U-23 event in 1993 and 1997. *1993: 4th place *1997: Winners *2001: ''a U20 event'' *2005: ''filled with B team''

Honours

:* Winner: 1992,

, 1996,

, 2004 :* Runner-up:

Coaches

*1976–1986:

Azeglio Vicini Azeglio Vicini (; 20 March 1933 – 30 January 2018) was an Italian football coach and player, who also served as the President of the Technical Sector of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). One of Italy's most important coaches during ...

*1986–1996: Cesare Maldini *1996–1997: Rossano Giampaglia *1997–2000:

Marco Tardelli Marco Tardelli (; born 24 September 1954) is an Italian former football player and manager. At club level, he played as a midfielder for several Italian clubs; he began his career with Pisa, and later played for Como, Juventus, and Internaziona ...

*2000–2006:

Claudio Gentile Claudio Gentile (; born 27 September 1953) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, and played for the winning Italian team in ...

*2006–2010:

Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before endi ...

*2010–2012:

Ciro Ferrara Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. His most recent position was as manager of Wuhan Zall. He had also previously coached Juventus and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to M ...

*2012–2013:

Devis Mangia Devis Mangia (; born 6 June 1974) is an Italian association football manager, most recently in charge of the Malta national football team. Managing career Early years Mangia started his coaching career at age 30, working alongside Sean Sogliano ...

*2013–2019:

Luigi Di Biagio Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A former defensive midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli Calcio 1898 in 2007, and previously also played for several other Italian clubs ...

*2019–present: Paolo Nicolato

Coaching staff

Current technical staff:

Players

Players born in 2000 or later are eligible for the

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) will be the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ...

. Players in bold have been already capped with the senior team.

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the friendly match against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 19 November 2022. ''Caps and goals as of 19 November 2022, after the match against Germany.''

Recent call-ups

Following are listed players called up in the previous 12 months that are still eligible to represent the Under-21 team. ^INJ Withdrew due to injury

Records

Players in bold are still eligible to represent Under-21 team. ''As of 31 May 2021.''

Top appearances

The following is the top 10 most capped under-21 players:

Top goalscorers

The following is the top 10 under-21 goalscorers:

Notes

References

External links

Official website
Italian language
Official website
English language

Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships. {{DEFAULTSORT:Italy National Under-21 Football Team European national under-21 association football teams Youth football in Italy

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

Olympics football Record

Overage players in Olympic Games

Mediterranean Games Record

Honours

Coaches

Coaching staff

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2022

2023

Players

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Records

Top appearances

Top goalscorers

See also

Notes

References

External links