70 days after their quarter-final defeat to Germany at the 2025 European Under-21 Championship, the Azzurrini are preparing to return to action. The squad will meet on Sunday at the Tirrenia Olympic Training Centre ahead of their first two matches in the 2027 European Championship qualifiers, which will see them face Montenegro in La Spezia on Friday 5 September and North Macedonia in Bitola four days later.

The new Azzurrini coach, Silvio Baldini, who will hold his first press conference online on Monday 1 September at 16:30 CEST, has today announced his 25-man squad. The group includes nine returning players from the past two years (Fini, Kayode, Koleosho, Ndour, Pafundi, Palestra, Pisilli, Raimondo and Comuzzo, who, however, didn’t make an appearance) and 16 who have received their first U21 call-up. There are five inclusions who are above their age group: Camarda (born in 2008), plus Mascardi, Fini, Pafundi and Venturino (2006). It’s the first time Nava, Marianucci, Moruzzi and Dagasso have been called up to a youth national team, while the other players have experience across Italy’s youth sides from the U15s to the U21s, amassing a total of 495 appearances and 79 goals. From Tirrenia, the U21s will travel to La Spezia on Thursday, returning to the Olympic Training Centre the following evening after their match against Montenegro at the Stadio Alberto Picco. On Sunday afternoon, the squad will head to Ohrid, North Macedonia, for their fixture at the renovated Petar Miloševski Stadium in nearby Bitola, around 30 km from the borders with Greece and Albania.

UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP. The 26th edition of the tournament will conclude in June 2027, with the finals hosted in Albania and Serbia. A total of 51 teams will take part in qualifying, divided into nine groups – six groups of six teams and three groups of five. Italy have been drawn in Group E alongside Armenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland and Sweden. Matches will take place in September, October and November 2025, then in March, September and October 2026. The group winners qualify directly for the final tournament, along with the best runner-up. The remaining eight runners-up will contest the play-offs to determine the final four spots. The 2027 European Under-21 Championship also serves as the qualifying tournament for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS. This will be Italy’s fourth meeting with Montenegro in eleven years, following a friendly in 2014 and two group-stage matches during the 2023 European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign. The Azzurrini also faced Serbia and Montenegro four times between 2003 and 2004, recording three wins and one defeat. Meanwhile, they will meet North Macedonia for the first time. The U21s are set to take to the pitch at the Stadio Alberto Picco in La Spezia for the third time and ten months after their 2-2 draw with Ukraine.

SQUAD LIST

Goalkeepers: Diego Mascardi (Spezia), Edoardo Motta (Reggiana), Lapo Nava (Cremonese);

Defenders: Davide Bartesaghi (Milan), Fabio Chiarodia (Borussia M’gladbach), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Riyad Idrissi (Cagliari), Michael Kayode (Brentford), Filippo Mane (Borussia Dortmund), Luca Marianucci (Napoli), Brando Moruzzi (Empoli), Marco Palestra (Cagliari);

Midfielders: Lorenzo Amatucci (Las Palmas), Tommaso Berti (Cesena), Matteo Dagasso (Pescara), Luca Lipani (Sassuolo), Cher Ndour (Fiorentina), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma);

Forwards: Francesco Camarda (Lecce), Luigi Cherubini (Sampdoria), Seydou Fini (Genoa), Luca Koleosho (Espanyol), Simone Pafundi (Sampdoria), Antonio Raimondo (Frosinone), Lorenzo Venturino (Genoa).