The 45th edition of the Telki Cup ended with a convincing victory for the reigning European champions, Italy’s Under-17 National Team, who beat hosts Hungary 3-1 at Globall Football Park’s Field 1 on the third and final matchday. They finished second in the standings with four points, behind Turkey, who topped the table with seven points after beating Saudi Arabia 4-0 in the other match, played on Field 2.

The Azzurrini took the lead in the 15th minute, as Fiorentina forward, Fortune Erhunmwun Egharevba, scored, before Sigma Olomouc striker Dávid Chidi Orji levelled in the 35th minute. Manuel Pasqual’s side took the lead again in the 71st minute thanks to AC Milan forward Gabriele Borsa, before Como striker Achille Cauli sealed the win in the 74th minute.

‘We were definitely better in several aspects,’ said the Italy coach, ‘Both in our attitude and in our ball control, because we can’t always play vertically, as we did in the first two matches or last season with the Under-16. I also liked the players’ willingness to take on different roles. Today we have taken a step forward because we go home knowing that we need to raise our physical, technical and mental game to reach certain standards in international matches.”

At the end of the tournament, during the awards ceremony, Fiorentina attacking midfielder, Federico Croci, was named joint top scorer, alongside Hungary’s Orji, with both players having scored three goals. The award for best goalkeeper went to another Hungarian, Marcell Mácsik of MTK Budapest.

MATCH. Italy kept the 4-3-1-2 formation used in their 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia two days earlier, but made seven changes to the starting XI: Rondelli in goal; Colombo, Rosa and Bacuzzi stayed in defence, joined by captain Damonte; Bernamonte, Norelli and Scaglione in midfield; Elena behind Borsa and Egharevba, with the latter keeping his place.

Hungary opted for a 4-2-3-1, making four changes from the starting XI that lost 2-0 to Turkey: Lakos in goal, Bucsák in midfield, and Bazsika and Szegedi as attacking midfielders. Mészáros, Hermann, Piróth and Bársony returned to defence; Áron Horváth was in midfield, while Angyal joined the attacking trio behind lone striker Orji.

Backed by the home crowd, Hungary had an opportunity in the fifth minute thanks to Bucsák, but the number six’s effort from outside the box went wide. The Azzurrini responded immediately and, on the quarter-hour mark, Egharevba beat the offside trap, entered the box, and fired a nice left-footed diagonal shot into the corner past Lakos to put Pasqual’s side ahead. Italy continued to attack after taking the lead and their number 16 again came close to doubling it in the 27th minute, but his diagonal right-footed effort went narrowly wide. Yet just as the Azzurrini appeared to be at their strongest, Hungary levelled: Szegedi broke through on the left before sending a dangerous ball into the box, where Orji slid in to beat Rondelli from close range in the 34th minute. Pasqual’s side did not lose their composure and created a few chances late in the half, both through Borsa. The first, in the 41st minute, came after Lakos’s clearance ricocheted off him and went just over the bar; the second, in the 44th minute, was a header from a left cross that went narrowly wide. After the referee added one minute of stoppage time, the teams went into the break level at 1-1.

The second half began with a chance for Italy, but Borsa, played in by Bacuzzi, failed to hit the target in the 47th minute. The hosts responded in the 56th minute, when Hermann unleashed a powerful right-footed shot from 20 metres away after a corner, forcing a superb save from Rondelli, who tipped it over for another corner. In the 68th minute, the Italy goalkeeper excellently intervened once again to keep out Orji’s dangerous right-footed diagonal shot. At the most crucial point of the second half, the Azzurrini upped their level and regained the lead in the 71st minute. Croci, who had replaced Egharevba around ten minutes earlier, played a brilliant one-two with Scaglione before shooting. Lakos made an excellent save to keep out the number eleven’s effort, but could do nothing about Borsa’s right-footed follow-up. Energised by the 2-1 lead, Pasqual’s side continued to press and added a third goal in the 74th minute. Cauli, who had replaced Borsa a minute earlier, tapped in the Hungarian goalkeeper’s save after Scaglione’s shot and fired into the near corner with his right foot. Hungary tried to get back into the match late on, but Angyal somehow sent Pető’s right cross wide from close range. After two minutes of stoppage time, awarded by Hungarian referee Gábor Iványi, the final whistle confirmed Italy’s 3-1 victory and second place at the Telki Cup with four points, behind Turkey.

Hungary U17 1-3 Italy U17 (30-08-2026)

 

THE SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Umberto Costante (Inter), Filippo Rondelli (Atalanta);

Defenders: Christian Bacuzzi (AC Milan), Mattia Barbone (Fiorentina), Giuseppe Cafasso (Lecce), Daniel Ethan Colombo (Parma), Lorenzo Damonte (Genoa), Raphael Libero Mazzotta (Juventus), Thomas Rosa (Atalanta)**, Alberto Samà (Juventus);

Midfielders: Lorenzo Bernamonte (Fiorentina), Daniel Ferri (Inter), Cristian Norelli (Cremonese), Roberto Scaglione (Genoa), Seye Abdou Samath (AC Milan)***, Gabriele Tufaro (Juventus);

Forwards: Gabriele Borsa (AC Milan), Achille Cauli (Como), Federico Croci (Fiorentina), Leandro Dos Santos Braga (Roma), Fortune Erhunmwun Egharevba (Fiorentina), Michele Elena (Lazio).

 

*called up on 21 August to replace Alessandro Ghiotto (Juventus), who was unavailable.

**called up on 24 August to replace Diego Lucarelli (Inter), who was unavailable.

***called up on 26 August to replace Paolo Schiffini (Atalanta), who was unavailable.

 

Staff – Coach: Manuel Pasqual; Assistant coach: Matteo Barella; Goalkeeping coach: Graziano Vinti; Fitness coach: Nicolò Varesco; Match analyst: Nicolò Tolin; Doctor: Gabriele Altavilla; Physiotherapist: Luca De Marchi; Nutritionist: Dennis Dell’Unto; Secretary: Fabio Ferappi.

 

45th International Under-17 Telki Cup

Single group: Saudi Arabia, ITALY, Turkey, Hungary

Matchday 1 (Wednesday 26 August)

ITALY 3-3 Turkey

Hungary 2-0 Saudi Arabia

 

Matchday 2 (Friday 28 August)

Saudi Arabia 2-1 ITALY

Turkey 2-0 Hungary

 

Matchday 3 (Sunday 30 August)

Turkey 4-0 Saudi Arabia

Hungary 1-3 ITALY

 

Standings: Turkey 7, ITALY 4, Hungary 3 (-2), Saudi Arabia 3 (-5).