The list of the 21 Azzurrine who will take part in the World Cup has officially been confirmed. From 5 September, Poland will host the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, with Italy participating for only the second time in their history, following their tournament debut in 2012. Their qualification was secured thanks to the semi-final reached at the UEFA Women’s U19 European Championship in summer 2025.

Head coach Nicola Matteucci, who also led the Azzurrine at last year’s continental tournament, made his final decisions following this morning’s friendly against Portugal (click here for more information), which brought the training camp in Novarello to a close. The selected players will meet in Rome on Monday 31 August, before departing for Poland on Wednesday 2 September.

Of the 21 players heading to the World Cup, eleven were born in 2006, while seven were born in 2007 (Appiah, Cherubini, Consolini, Langella, Lombardi, Tosello and Ventriglia). The remaining three Azzurrine were born in 2008 (Bressan, Galli and Venturelli) and will be taking part in another global tournament after featuring at last year’s FIFA U-18 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

 

The World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Elena Belli (Inter), Erica Di Nallo (Vicenza), Lavinia Tornaghi (Milan);
Defenders: Martina Bressan (Inter), Martina Cocino (Aarau), Lidia Consolini (Inter), Azzurra Gallo (Toulouse), Emma Lombardi (Fiorentina), Martina Tosello (Cesena), Caterina Venturelli (Sassuolo);
Midfielders: Giada Catena (Res Donna Roma), Maya Cherubini (Fiorentina), Paola Fadda (Sassuolo), Gabriella Langella (Napoli Women), Sofia Testa (Ternana Women), Marta Zamboni (Como Women);
Forwards: Karen Appiah (Cesena), Giulia Galli (Roma), Giada Pellegrino Cimò (Roma), Manuela Sciabica (Lazio), Rosanna Ventriglia (Ternana Women).

 

Format. For only the second time in its history, the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will feature 24 teams. The nations have been divided into six groups of four, with the top two teams from each group, plus the four best third-placed teams, advancing to the knockout stage, which will begin with the round of 16.

Tournament history. The tournament in Poland will be the 10th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, bearing in mind that the first two editions, held in Canada in 2002 and Thailand in 2004, were contested as U-19 tournaments. Italy have reached the finals only once (excluding, of course, their participation in 2004): that came in 2012, when the Azzurrine were eliminated in the group stage after picking up one point from three matches and scoring just once. Elena Linari got that goal, earning Italy a draw against Brazil.

Italy’s opponents. Italy have been drawn in Group D alongside Japan, New Zealand and the United States. Japan have reached the final in each of the last two editions (2022 and 2024), while they won the tournament in 2018, the final edition before the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States, who have reached the finals at every edition of the competition, have won the U-20 World Cup twice (2008 and 2012), as well as the inaugural edition of the tournament when it was still contested at U-19 level (2002). New Zealand, who have participated in every edition since 2006, have reached the knockout stage only once, in 2014, when they were eliminated by eventual finalists Nigeria in the quarter-finals.

Italy’s World Cup schedule. The Azzurrine will play all three of their group-stage matches in Łódź at the Stadion Miejski, named after Władysław Król. The stadium, which has a capacity of more than 18,000, will host 20 of the 52 matches at the tournament, including two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final.

Italy will begin their campaign on Sunday 6 September at 18:00 CEST against the USA, before playing their other two group matches at 15:00: against New Zealand on Wednesday 9 September and Japan on Saturday 12 September. All three matches will be broadcast live on Rai Sport.

The Groups: Here is how the 24 participating teams have been divided into the six groups:

Group A: Poland, Argentina, Mexico, Benin
Group B: Brazil, Tanzania, Canada, England
Group C: France, South Korea, Ecuador, Ghana
Group D: Japan, New Zealand, United States, ITALY
Group E: North Korea, Portugal, Costa Rica, Colombia
Group F: Spain, Nigeria, New Caledonia, China