Italy national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Gli Azzurrini | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio – FIGC) | ||
| Head coach | Bernardo Corradi | ||
| Captain | Luca Lipani | ||
| |||
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1977) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (2023) | ||
| Under 20 Elite League | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in 2017–18) | ||
| Best result | Winner (2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24) | ||
The team competes for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years, and for the Under-20 Elite League, held every year.
History
editThe Under-20 team is de facto based on the previous year's Under-19 team and acts mainly as a support team for the Under-21 selection, providing further international experience for young selectable players.
The team competes for its only official tournament, the FIFA U-20 World Cup, depending on the U19s results at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship held in the even-numbered years, that qualifies European teams for the U-20 World Cup.
The best result obtained by the Italian team in the U-20 World Cup is the second place achieved in the 2023 edition held in Argentina, losing 1–0 against Uruguay. They finished also third in 2017 and fourth in 2019. Italy managed to qualify for the first time for two consecutive U-20 World Cups after winning its group at the 2018 European U-19 Championship, then finishing fourth at the following year's World Cup.
Each season the team mainly participates in friendly tournaments, in which overage players may also be selected. The U20 team participated until 2017 in the annual Four Nations Tournament with Germany, Switzerland and Poland (which replaced Austria). Since the 2017–18 season, the Italy U20 team participates in the annual Under 20 Elite League, expanded to 8 participants.
The team also had an annual fixture with the Serie D Best XI after the end of the season.[1][2][3][4]
FIFA U-20 World Cup record
edit| Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1977 |
Group stage | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
 1979 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1981 |
Group stage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
 1983 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1985
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 1987 |
Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | |
 1989 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1991
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| 1993
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 1995
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 1997
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 1999
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 2001
| ||||||||
 2003
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 2005 |
Quarter-finals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | |
 2007 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 2009 |
Quarter-finals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | |
 2011 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 2013
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 2015
| ||||||||
 2017 |
Third place | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9 | |
 2019 |
Fourth place | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | |
 |
Qualified but cancelled[5] | |||||||
| 2023 |
Runners-up | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | |
| 2025 |
Qualified | |||||||
| Total | 8/23 | 41 | 18 | 8 | 15 | 57 | 51 | |
- *Draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
Current squad
editThe following 22 players were called up for the Under 20 Elite League matches against Czech Republic and Germany on 5 and 10 September 2024, respectively.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "L'Italia Under 20 batte la Top 11 di D". Corriere dello Sport – Stadio (in Italian). 11 June 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ "Orvieto, Top 11 a testa alta contro l'Italia Under 20". Corriere dello Sport-Stadio (in Italian). 4 June 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
- ^ "Top 11: sport e solidarietà". Serie D News (in Italian). 3 June 2008. Archived from the original on 23 June 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ^ "La Top 11 Serie D Corriere dello Sport supera per 1 - 0 l'Under 20". Serie D News (in Italian). 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ^ "Update on FIFA Women's World Cup and men's youth competitions". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^ "Inizia la marcia di avvicinamento al Mondiale. I 22 convocati di Corradi per i primi due impegni in Elite League contro Cechia e Germania" (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
References
edit- Official website, Italian language
- Official website, English language