Preparations are in full swing at the Coverciano Federal Technical Centre for the Unity EURO Cup 2026, the competition organised by UEFA in partnership with UNHCR (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). The tournament will take place on Thursday 15 October, running from early morning until late afternoon. Now in its fifth edition, it is a unique competition that uses football as a tool for social inclusion and integration.

The 22 participating teams, including Italy, each have a squad of eleven players composed of seven refugees and four host community representatives. At least three squad members must be women, and matches are played in a 7-a-side format. Italy's Refugee Team has taken part in every edition to date, with third place in the inaugural tournament in 2022 remaining their best sporting result. This year's squad includes four Italian players, two athletes from Mali, and players from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, and Guinea.

For the first time, Italy will host the Unity EURO Cup, with the FIGC selecting the home of the Azzurre and Azzurri national teams as the venue. The participating countries are Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Northern Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. The 22nd team will represent the European Union. Around 400 people will therefore be at the Federal Technical Centre, including players and team staff.

With a record number of participants, the tournament will follow a format modelled on European club competitions. In the league phase, each team will play three matches. On Thursday morning, Italy will face Poland at 9:00 CET, Armenia at 10:00 CET and Malta at 11:00 CET, in that order. The league-phase matches, scheduled to run from 9:00 CET until around midday, will produce a single league table, with the top four teams qualifying directly for the quarter-finals. The teams finishing between fifth and twelfth place will contest the play-offs at 13:45 CET to determine the remaining four quarter-finalists. The quarter-finals will follow at 15:00 CET, the semi-finals at 16:00 CET and the final at 17:30 CET, with the awards ceremony taking place afterwards.

The Unity EURO Cup has become UEFA's 24th official competition. Participation in the tournament also contributes to the objectives of Policy 6 (Support for Refugees) within the FIGC's Social and Environmental Sustainability Strategy. As part of this commitment, the FIGC has recently promoted the event in stadiums, raising awareness among supporters about social inclusion and integration.

The campaign featured a tournament launch video shown on stadium giant screens, alongside promotional messages on the pitchside LED boards. The build-up to the event covered four major matches involving Italy's national teams: Italy va. Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and Italy vs. Türkiye at the Stadio Dall'Ara in Bologna, both featuring the senior men's national team; Italy vs. Poland at the Stadio Adriatico in Pescara, featuring the Under-21 team; and, finally, Italy vs. Belarus at the Stadio Franchi in Florence, featuring the women's senior national team.