After opening the season by winning the international tournament in Croatia, the Under-19 national team is ready to return to competitive action, with Round 2 of European Championship qualifying set to take place in the Marche region from Wednesday 11 to Tuesday 17 November. It will be the second of three qualifying rounds for Massimiliano Favo’s Azzurrini, following Italy’s impressive progress through the first round in Scotland last March, where they collected seven points from three matches.

Italy will face Romania (Wednesday 11 in Ancona), Ukraine (Saturday 14 in Fano) and Israel (Tuesday 17 in Fermo), in that order, aiming to secure one of the three places in the third and final qualifying round in March. That round will determine the teams that qualify for the finals in Czechia, which will take place from 18 June to 1 July.

Simone Lontani will join the group late following his call up to the senior team

For Round 2, Favo has selected 18 players born in 2008 and two born in 2009: forwards Antonio Arena (Roma) and Destiny Elimoghale (Juventus). Six of them—Cristiano De Paoli, Mattia Marello, Andrea Natali and Samuel Wiafe, along with Arena and Elimoghale—also featured in the final tournament of the last European Championship, held in Wales. 

TICKETING Admission to all Round 2 matches will be free, with entry requiring a named ticket that can be downloaded from the ticketing.figc.it portal.

MEDIA ACCREDITATION Journalists, photographers and camera operators wishing to cover the Under-19 European Championship qualifying Round 2 matches can request accreditation by emailing press@figc.it and m.calabresi@guest.figc.it, with the subject line ‘Under-19 National Team Media Accreditation’, by 6:00 PM on the day before each match. Alternatively, they can send a single email covering all the matches for which they are requesting accreditation.

THE SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Alessandro Anelli (Atalanta), Alessandro Longoni (Paris Saint-Germain);

Defenders: Benit Borasio (Juventus), Leonardo Noah Bovio (Inter), Cristiano De Paoli (Como), Jean Tryfose Mambuku (Stade de Reims), Mattia Marello (Inter), David Marini (Cesena), Andrea Natali (AZ Alkmaar);

Midfielders: Andrea Ballanti (Torino), Vincenzo Damiano (Genoa), Samuele Liberali (Sassuolo), Valerio Maccaroni (Roma), Vincenzo Prisco (Bari), Federico Steffanoni (Atalanta), Samuel Wiafe (Genoa);

Forwards: Antonio Arena (Roma), Destiny Elimoghale (Juventus), Christian Fogliaro (Monza), Simone Lontani (Parma)*.

  • *Will join the squad on Tuesday 10 November*

Staff – Head Coach: Massimiliano Favo; Head of Delegation: Gianfranco Serioli; Youth National Teams Coordinator: Maurizio Viscidi; Assistant Coach: Davide Cei; Fitness Coach: Adalberto Zamuner; Goalkeeping Coach: Davide Quironi; Match Analyst: Andrea Loiacono; Doctors: Andrea Serdoz, Alessio Rossato; Physiotherapists: Giorgio Giannini, Manolo Ruggiero; Nutritionist: Claudio Pecorella; Team Secretary: Massimo Petracchini

UEFA UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 2
League A – Group A6

Matchday 1 – Wednesday 11 November
12:00 PM: Ukraine vs. Israel (Fermo)
3:30 PM: ITALY vs. Romania (Ancona), live on RaiSport

Matchday 2 – Saturday 14 November
12:00 PM: Israel vs. Romania (Fermo)
3:30 PM: ITALY vs. Ukraine (Fano), live on RaiPlay

Matchday 3 – Tuesday 17 November
1:00 PM: Israel vs. ITALY (Fermo), live on RaiSport
1:00 PM: Romania vs. Ukraine (Ancona)