 | |||
| 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 in1977) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (2023) | ||
| Under 20 Elite League | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in2017–18) | ||
| Best result | Winner (2021–22,2022–23,2023–24) | ||
Italy national under-20 football team is the national under-20football team ofItaly and is controlled by theItalian Football Federation.
The team competes for theUnder 20 Elite League, held annually and, if qualified, for theFIFA U-20 World Cup, held every two years.
The Under-20 team isde facto based on the previous year'sUnder-19 team and acts mainly as a support team for theUnder-21 selection, providing further international experience for young selectable players.
The team competes for its only official tournament, theFIFA U-20 World Cup, depending on the U19s results at theUEFA 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 the2023 edition held inArgentina, losing thefinal 1–0 againstUruguay. They finished also third in2017 and fourth in2019. Italy managed to qualify for the first time for three consecutive U-20 World Cups after qualifying for the2021 edition, but the event was cancelled due to theCOVID-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 annualFour Nations Tournament with Germany, Switzerland and Poland (which replaced Austria). Since the 2017–18 season, the Italy U20 team participates in the annualUnder 20 Elite League, expanded to 8 participants.
The team also had an annual fixture with theSerie D Best XI after the end of the season.[2][3][4][5]
| 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 | TBD | ||||||||
| Total | 9/24 | 45 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 60 | 57 | ||
The following players were called up for the friendly matches againstPortugal andGermany on 14 and 17 November 2025, respectively.[6]
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GK | Tommaso Martinelli | (2006-01-06)6 January 2006 (age 19) |  Fiorentina | |||
| 1GK | Lapo Siviero | (2006-11-23)23 November 2006 (age 18) | Torino | |||
| 2DF | Mike Aidoo | (2005-05-30)30 May 2005 (age 20) | Pergolettese | |||
| 2DF | Cristian Cama | (2007-06-05)5 June 2007 (age 18) | Roma | |||
| 2DF | Mattia Mannini(captain) | (2006-07-08)8 July 2006 (age 19) | Juve Stabia | |||
| 2DF | Filippo Pagnucco | (2006-02-09)9 February 2006 (age 19) | Juventus Next Gen | |||
| 2DF | Filippo Reale | (2006-02-24)24 February 2006 (age 19) | Juve Stabia | |||
| 2DF | Lorenzo Romani | (2005-02-28)28 February 2005 (age 20) | Lecco | |||
| 2DF | Jacopo Sardo | (2005-03-08)8 March 2005 (age 20) | Monza | |||
| 2DF | Giacomo Stabile | (2005-04-12)12 April 2005 (age 20) | Juve Stabia | |||
| 2DF | Francesco Stante | (2005-01-19)19 January 2005 (age 20) | Inter Milan U23 | |||
| 3MF | Thomas Berenbruch | (2005-05-31)31 May 2005 (age 20) | Inter Milan U23 | |||
| 3MF | Alessandro Berretta | (2006-07-01)1 July 2006 (age 19) | Giana Erminio | |||
| 3MF | Leonardo Colombo | (2005-06-04)4 June 2005 (age 20) | Monza | |||
| 3MF | Lorenzo Riccio | (2006-07-25)25 July 2006 (age 19) | Atalanta U23 | |||
| 3MF | Fabio Rispoli | (2006-09-28)28 September 2006 (age 19) | Catanzaro | |||
| 4FW | Pietro Candelari | (2005-01-21)21 January 2005 (age 20) | Spezia | |||
| 4FW | Serigne Deme | (2005-02-04)4 February 2005 (age 20) | Juventus Next Gen | |||
| 4FW | Giacomo De Pieri | (2006-12-29)29 December 2006 (age 18) | Juve Stabia | |||
| 4FW | Patrick Nuamah | (2005-12-31)31 December 2005 (age 19) | Catanzaro | |||
| 4FW | Matteo Lavelli | (2006-12-08)8 December 2006 (age 18) | Inter Milan U23 | |||
| 4FW | Marco Romano | (2006-03-01)1 March 2006 (age 19) | Genoa | |||
| 4FW | Matteo Spinaccè | (2006-07-13)13 July 2006 (age 19) | Inter Milan U23 | |||
The following table shows Italy's head-to-head record in theFIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Brazil | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 050.00 |
| Canada | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 050.00 |
| Chile | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Colombia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 050.00 |
 Cuba | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 000.00 |
 Dominican Republic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Ecuador | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Egypt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 000.00 |
 England | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 050.00 |
 France | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Hungary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 000.00 |
 Iran | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
 Ivory Coast | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 000.00 |
 Japan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 000.00 |
 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 | 000.00 |
| Nigeria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 050.00 |
 Paraguay | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Poland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Romania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
 South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| South Korea | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 050.00 |
 Spain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
 Syria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
 Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
 United States | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 050.00 |
 Uruguay | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
 Zambia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Total | 45 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 042.22 |
