Italy national under-20 football team
National under-20 association football team representing Italy
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Italy national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.
(Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio – FIGC)
| |||
| Nickname | Gli Azzurrini | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio – FIGC) | ||
| Head coach | Carmine Nunziata | ||
| Captain | Mattia Mannini | ||
| |||
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 9 (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 Under 20 Elite League, held annually and, if qualified, for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, held every two years.
History
The 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 the final 1–0 against Uruguay. They finished also third in 2017 and fourth in 2019. Italy managed to qualify for the first time for three consecutive U-20 World Cups after qualifying for the 2021 edition, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
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.[2][3][4][5]
FIFA U-20 World Cup
| 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 | |||||||||
 1987 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | ||
 1989 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1991 | |||||||||
| 1993 | |||||||||
 1995 | |||||||||
 1997 | |||||||||
 1999 | |||||||||
 2001 | |||||||||
 2003 | |||||||||
 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 | |||||||||
 2015 | |||||||||
 2017 | Third place | 7 | 3 | 2* | 2 | 10 | 9 | ||
 2019 | Fourth place | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | ||
 | Cancelled | ||||||||
| 2023 | Runners-up | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | ||
| 2025 | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
  2027 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| Total:9/25 | Runners-up | 45 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 60 | 57 | ||
- *Draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
Current squad
The following players were called up for the friendly match against England on 27 March 2026.[6]
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Tommaso Martinelli | 6 January 2006 |  Fiorentina | |||
| GK | Lapo Siviero | 23 November 2006 | Torino | |||
| DF | Mike Aidoo | 30 May 2005 | Pergolettese | |||
| DF | Adam Bakoune | 6 February 2006 | Monza | |||
| DF | Cristian Cama | 5 June 2007 | Roma | |||
| DF | Christian Corradi | 21 February 2005 | Trento | |||
| DF | Filippo Pagnucco | 9 February 2006 | Juventus Next Gen | |||
| DF | Filippo Reale | 24 February 2006 | Juve Stabia | |||
| DF | Lorenzo Romani | 28 February 2005 | Lecco | |||
| DF | Giacomo Stabile | 12 April 2005 | Bari | |||
| MF | Aaron Ciammaglichella | 26 January 2005 | Juve Stabia | |||
| MF | Leonardo Colombo | 4 June 2005 | Monza | |||
| MF | Giacomo De Pieri | 29 December 2006 | Juve Stabia | |||
| MF | Luca Di Maggio | 31 March 2005 | Padova | |||
| MF | Patrick Nuamah | 31 December 2005 | Catanzaro | |||
| MF | Fabio Rispoli | 28 September 2006 | Catanzaro | |||
| FW | Federico Cassa | 1 February 2006 | Atalanta U23 | |||
| FW | Matteo Lavelli | 8 December 2006 | Inter Milan U23 | |||
| FW | Alvin Okoro | 26 March 2005 | Juve Stabia | |||
| FW | Simone Pafundi | 14 March 2006 | Sampdoria | |||
| FW | Emanuele Rao | 28 March 2006 | Bari | |||
| FW | Dominic Vavassori | 9 December 2005 | Atalanta U23 | |||
Head-to-head record
The following table shows Italy's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Australia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Brazil |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 50.00 |
| Canada |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 50.00 |
| Chile |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Colombia |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 50.00 |
 Cuba |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 |
 Dominican Republic |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Ecuador |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 50.00 |
| Egypt |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0.00 |
 England |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 50.00 |
 France |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Hungary |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 0.00 |
 Iran |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 |
 Ivory Coast |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 |
 Japan |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 |
 Mali |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Mexico |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Morocco |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Nigeria |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 50.00 |
 Paraguay |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Poland |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Romania |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
 South Africa |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| South Korea |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 50.00 |
 Spain |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
 Syria |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Ukraine |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
 United States |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 50.00 |
 Uruguay |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 |
 Zambia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Total | 45 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 42.22 |