One hundred and eighty minutes remain in the 2027 European Championship qualifiers. After two matches, the Italy U21 National Team will know whether they have secured their place at the 26th edition of the continental tournament for this age group, to be held in Albania and Serbia. The Azzurrini resume their campaign for the final push, with Poland still to catch, looking for three points in a league table that leaves no room for error.

Baldini’s side will meet up on Monday 21 September at the CPO in Tirrenia, where they will stay until Wednesday 30 September, when they depart for Yerevan. On Thursday 1 October at 18.30 CEST (20.30 local time), they will face Armenia, who are at the bottom of the table with zero points, away from home, before the final match of the qualifying group on Monday 5 October at 18.15 CEST. The Adriatico in Pescara will host what promises to be a decisive head-to-head clash with Poland. The group winners qualify directly for the European Championship, as does the best runner-up from the nine groups. Italy remain firmly in contention for both second place and qualification.

Silvio Baldini with Luca Koleosho

BALDINI’S SELECTIONS. The Azzurrini will have a long preparation period before travelling to Armenia, with ten days of work that will also include two friendlies against the Primavera sides of Empoli (Thursday 24 September) and Spezia (Sunday 27 September). This will give the coach the opportunity to assess the 25 players selected, with most of the group that joined him last June with the senior National Team returning for the final stage of the campaign. They will be joined by four new faces: Matteo Cichella, Mattia Liberali, Emanuele Lulli and Luca Reggiani have all received their first call-up to the U21 National Team. For the Como attacking midfielder and the Borussia Dortmund defender, the Azzurri shirt is already familiar, having spent considerable time with the Youth National Teams (67 appearances and 19 goals for the former, 40 appearances and three goals for the latter). Roma winger Emanuele Lulli and Frosinone midfielder Luca Reggiani, meanwhile, return to the Italy setup a year after their previous call-ups, with the U19s (Italy vs. Scotland in October 2025) and U20s (Türkiye vs. Italy in March 2025) respectively.

Mattia Liberali on his first U21 call-up

MEDIA ACTIVITIES AND ACCREDITATION. The first press conference of the training camp with coach Silvio Baldini will take place on Tuesday 22 September at 16.00 CEST at the CPO in Tirrenia and online. The following day, at the same time, a player will attend the press conference.

Training sessions at the CPO in Tirrenia will be open to the media for the first 15 minutes. Requests for access to the Centro di Preparazione Olimpica must be submitted by 18.00 CEST on the previous day by email to m.santi@figc.it.

On Wednesday 30 September at 09.30, the MD-1 press conference for Armenia-Italy will be held at the CPO in Tirrenia, also available online. The press conference ahead of Italy-Poland will take place on Sunday 4 October at 19.30 in the Sala Gold at the Stadio Adriatico in Pescara.

Please note that in-person access to the Pescara press conference, which will also be available online, will be reserved exclusively for those accredited for the match on Monday 5 October and will be subject to the actual availability of workstations. Accreditation requests must be submitted by Thursday 1 October at 12.00 CET.

THE SQUAD LIST

Goalkeepers: Giovanni Daffara (Parma), Diego Mascardi (Torino), Lorenzo Palmisani (Frosinone);

Defenders: Davide Bartesaghi (Milan), Gabriele Calvani (Frosinone), Fabio Chiarodia (Borussia Monchengladbach), Pietro Comuzzo (Torino), Costantino Favasuli (Napoli), Niccolò Fortini (Torino), Emanuele Lulli (Roma), Brando Moruzzi (Avellino), Luca Reggiani (Borussia Dortmund);

Midfielders: Tommaso Berti (Cremonese), Matteo Cichella (Frosinone), Giacomo Faticanti (Avellino), Mattia Liberali (Como), Luca Lipani (Sassuolo), Cher Ndour (Fiorentina), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma);

Forwards: Francesco Camarda (Milan), Luigi Cherubini (Benevento), Alphadjo Cisse (Milan), Seydou Fini (Frosinone), Luca Koleosho (Paris FC), Antonio Raimondo (Frosinone).