| | |||
| 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) | ||
Italy national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.
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.
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 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]
| Year | Result | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | ||
| | Did not qualify | ||||||||
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| | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | ||
| | Did not qualify | ||||||||
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| | Quarter-finals | 5 | 2 | 1* | 2 | 10 | 8 | ||
| | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| | Quarter-finals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | ||
| | Did not qualify | ||||||||
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| | Third place | 7 | 3 | 2* | 2 | 10 | 9 | ||
| | Fourth place | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | ||
| | Cancelled | ||||||||
| | Runners-up | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | ||
| | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| | TBD | ||||||||
| Total | 9/24 | 45 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 60 | 57 | ||
The following 21 players were called up for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. [6]
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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 | |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 50.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 50.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 50.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 50.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 50.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 | |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 50.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 50.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 50.00 | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 100.00 | |
| Total | 45 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 42.22 |