Italy national under-21 football team

Italy Under-21
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Gli Azzurrini
(The Little Blues)
AssociationItalian Football Federation
(Federazion Italia Giuoco Calcio – FIGC)
Head coachCarmine Nunziata
CaptainLorenzo Pirola
Most capsAndrea Pirlo (46)
Top scorerAlberto Gilardino (19)
First colours
Second colours
First international
U-23: Italy Italy 3–1 Austria Austria
(Varese, Italy; 1 November 1970)
U-21: Portugal Portugal 1–0 Italy Italy
(Funchal, Italy; 23 December 1976)
Biggest win
Italy Italy 7–0 Estonia Estonia
(Catanzaro, Italy; 23 March 1995)
Italy Italy 8–1 Wales Wales
(Pavia, Italy; 5 September 2003)
Italy Italy 7–0 Liechtenstein Liechtenstein
(Casarano, Italy; 6 September 2012)
San Marino San Marino 0–7 Italy Italy
(Serravale, San Marino; 16 November 2023)
Italy Italy 7–0 San Marino San Marino
(Latina, Italy; 5 September 2024)
Biggest defeat
Norway Norway 6–0 Italy Italy
(Stavanger, Norway; 5 June 1991)
Records for competitive
matches only.
Olympic Games
Appearances5 (first in 1992)
Best result Bronze medallist (2004)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances22 (first in 1978)
Best resultChampions (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Medal record
Italy national under-21 football team
Medal record
Men's Football
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Team

The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.

The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. Italy (along with Spain) is the most successful nation in the history of the competition, with five Championships won (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2004). Italy has also been twice runner-up of the competition, in 1986 and 2013.

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, on 24 March 2007, against England Under-21s. The game resulted in a 3–3 draw, with Giampaolo Pazzini scoring all 3 goals for the Azzurrini.

Prior to the 2008 Olympic games, Italy U-21s went on to win the 2008 Toulon Tournament 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.[1]

  1. ^ "Categories - All 4". www.channel4.com.