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The long build-up to Poland vs Italy, a clash between the two unbeaten leaders of Group E in the 2027 European U21 Championship Qualifiers (Friday 14 November, Pogon Arena, Szczecin, kick-off at 16:00 CET), has officially begun.
This morning, at the Olympic Preparation Centre in Tirrenia, the Azzurrini took part in a recovery session after the weekend’s club fixtures.
BALDINI SPEAKS
In the afternoon, the first on-pitch session was held under coach Silvio Baldini, who spoke in a press conference about the approach to a match that could shape Italy’s qualifying campaign: “Poland have shown their quality – the table speaks for itself. We know the difficulties this game presents, but I’m confident, because the players understand that in matches like this, they have to give their all. It’s not like those games that seem straightforward, as we saw against Armenia a month ago, when it took us a half to turn things around.”
Four days after the big match, Italy will face another challenging away fixture in Montenegro (Tuesday 18 November, City Stadium, Nikšić, 18:30 CET), a side that have taken six points from two home games and pushed the Azzurrini hard in the first meeting, which ended 2-1 in La Spezia.
NDOUR OUT
For these final two matches of 2025, Baldini has had to make do without Cher Ndour: the Fiorentina midfielder, the most-capped player in this squad (24 appearances, 4 goals), was forced to withdraw late on Monday evening. As a result, the midfield will look different to recent outings, with Dagasso likely to step in, as he did in the second half against Armenia.
ZEROLI JOINS UP
Also linking up with the squad is Kevin Zeroli (Monza, on loan from AC Milan), who boasts 18 youth caps and 4 goals. He joins Dominic Vavassori (Atalanta U23) and Gabriele Calvani (Frosinone), the latter earning his first-ever call-up to an Italy youth side. “We’ve been following them closely,” Baldini explained. “They were already in our pre-selection lists, and you could see how proud they were to be here this morning.”
COMUZZO AND MARIANUCCI
Back in the squad is Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), who withdrew injured in September, with the issue now resolved. “He had a health problem back then,” said Baldini, “and communication wasn’t clear at the time. We’ve since clarified everything with the club and the player, and he’s now back with us.”
Missing out instead is Luca Marianucci (Napoli), for technical reasons. “I told him directly,” Baldini explained. “He started well but his performances dropped, and I didn’t like his reaction after a yellow card in the last game.”
The team will train in Tirrenia until Thursday, when they’ll travel to Szczecin in the afternoon. They’ll return to Pisa after the match, before departing again on Monday for Podgorica ahead of the Montenegro fixture.
GROUP STANDINGS
Poland and Italy lead Group E with 12 points each, followed by Montenegro (6), Sweden (3), North Macedonia (3), and Armenia (0). Friday marks the end of the first half of the group stage, with the return fixtures starting next week.
STATISTICS AND RECORDS
Across four wins, Italy have scored 12 goals (3.0 per match) and conceded 2 (0.5). Baldini has called up 36 players in total, using 24 so far. Lipani is the only player to have featured for all 360 minutes, with Koleosho (334) and Pisilli (323) close behind.
The team’s goals have come from eight players: Camarda (3), Pisilli (2), Berti, Dagasso, Ekhator, Fini, Lipani, Marianucci, Koleosho (1).
With three goals in two appearances, Camarda equals the all-time debut record set by Giuseppe Sculli in 2002.
If Italy win both upcoming games, they will join the select group of Italy U21 sides with six consecutive victories in European qualifiers, a feat previously achieved only by the teams of Azeglio Vicini (1982–84, 1991–92) and Claudio Gentile (2002–03).
UEFA U21 EURO QUALIFIERS – GROUP E
13 November, 17:00 – North Macedonia v Sweden (Bitola)
14 November, 12:00 – Armenia v Montenegro (Armavir)
14 November, 16:00 – Poland v ITALY (Szczecin)
18 November, 12:00 – Armenia v Sweden (Armavir)
18 November, 17:00 – North Macedonia v Poland (Bitola)
18 November, 18:30 – Montenegro v ITALY (Nikšić)
Table: Poland 12 pts, ITALY 12, Montenegro 6, Sweden 3, North Macedonia 3, Armenia 0.
TRAINING SCHEDULE
Tuesday 11 November (CPO Tirrenia)
15:00 – Player press conference (in person and online)
15:30 – Training session
Wednesday 12 November (CPO Tirrenia)
15:00 – Player press conference (in person and online)
15:30 – Training session
Thursday 13 November (CPO Tirrenia)
10:30 – Training session
12:30 – Press conference with head coach and player (in person and online)
16:30 – Travel from Tirrenia to Szczecin
Friday 14 November (Szczecin, Pogon Arena)
16:00 – Poland v Italy (UEFA Euro U21 Qualifiers, Matchday 5)
21:00 – Travel from Szczecin to Tirrenia
Saturday 15 November (CPO Tirrenia)
16:00 – Training session
Sunday 16 November (CPO Tirrenia)
16:00 – Training session
Monday 17 November (CPO Tirrenia)
10:30 – Training session
16:20 – Travel from Tirrenia to Podgorica
Tuesday 18 November (Nikšić, City Stadium)
18:30 – Montenegro v Italy (UEFA Euro U21 Qualifiers, Matchday 6)
Wednesday 19 November
09:55 – Return travel from Podgorica to Milan/Rome