Czechia will be the next opponent for Massimiliano Favo’s Italy U-17 team in the Round of 16 of the U-17 World Cup in Qatar. The match is scheduled for Saturday, 15 November (16:00 local time / 14:00 CET) on Pitch One of Doha’s Aspire Zone. The Azzurrini finished Group A with a flawless record, making this the first time in the history of Italy’s youth national teams, and ranked as the third-best group winner behind Argentina and Austria. They will face the Czech side, who finished Group I, featuring Burkina Faso, the United States, and Tajikistan, in third place with three points, qualifying as the third-lowest of the eight best third-placed teams.

 

Past Encounters. Italy’s U-18 team has played Czechia twelve times, with a record of five wins, two draws, and five losses, scoring 22 goals and thirteen conceded.

Their first match dates back to 3 September 1998, at the ‘Stevan Vilotić’ International Tournament in Palić, which in a 2‑0 victory for the Azzurrini, led by Francesco Rocca, thanks to a brace from Franco Semioli (17’, 55’).

Their most recent fixture took place on 16 November 2018, in a friendly at Rome’s Giulio Onesti Olympic Training Centre, and ended in a 3‑3 draw. The goals for Italy came from Roberto Piccoli (21’), Samuele Ricci (32’), and Alessandro Sala (83’), brother of Emanuele Sala, who won the 2024 U‑17 European Championship under Massimiliano Favo in Cyprus (Italy 3‑0 Portugal, 5 June) and is currently called up to Alberto Bollini’s Italy U‑19 squad for the first phase of European qualifiers in Sicily. For Czechia, Filip Firbacher (3’ and 45’) and Jan Žambůrek (22’) scored.

The two teams also went head-to-head in the final phase of the most recent U-17 European Championship in Albania. On 20 May, the Azzurrini beat Czechia 2-1 in their opener of Group B at the ‘Niko Dovana’ Stadium in Durrës.

Italy opened the scoring in the 38th minute thanks to Samuele Inácio, before doubling the lead in the 42nd minute through Antonio Arena, born in 2009. Czechia pulled one back in the 53rd minute with Matouš Srb, also born in 2009.

 

SQUAD LIST

Goalkeepers: 1. Francesco Cereser (Torino), 12. Alessandro Longoni (Milan), 21. Sebastiano Nava (Juventus);
Defenders: 16. Benit Borasio (Juventus), 5. Leonardo Noah Bovio (Inter), 15. Cristiano De Paoli (Como), 2. Dauda Amihere Iddrisa (West Bromwich Albion), 3. Jean-Tryfose Mambuku (Stade de Reims), 13. David Marini (Cesena), 6. Luca Reggiani (Borussia Dortmund);
Midfielders: 8. Alessio Baralla (Empoli), 7. Andrea Luongo (Torino), 17. Valerio Maccaroni (Roma), 14. Fabio Pandolfi (Milan), 4. Vincenzo Prisco (Napoli), 18. Federico Steffanoni (Atalanta);
Forwards: 19. Antonio Arena (Roma), 9. Thomas Campaniello (Empoli), 11. Destiny Onoguekhan Elimoghale (Juventus), 10. Samuele Inácio (Borussia Dortmund), 20. Simone Lontani (Milan).

Staff – Coach: Massimiliano Favo; Head of Delegation: Filippo Corti; Deputy Youth National Teams Coordinator: Daniele Zoratto; Assistant Coach: Davide Cei; Goalkeeping Coach: Davide Quironi; Fitness Coach: Adalberto Zamuner; Match Analyst: Andrea Loiacono; Doctors: Sofia Calaciura, Clarich, and Alessio Rossato; Physiotherapists: Giorgio Giannini and Enrico Matera; Nutritionist: Claudio Pecorella; Academic Tutor: Stefano Presciutti; Press Officer: Alessandro Paoli; Administrator: Antonio Martuscelli; Club Italia Representative: Riccardo Poggetti; Secretary: Massimo Petracchini.

 

FIFA U17 World Cup Qatar 2025

Group Stage (3-11 November)

Group A: Qatar, ITALY, South Africa, Bolivia
Group B: Japan, Morocco, New Caledonia, Portugal
Group C: Senegal, Croatia, Costa Rica, United Arab Emirates
Group D: Argentina, Belgium, Tunisia, Fiji
Group E: England, Venezuela, Haiti, Egypt
Group F: Mexico, South Korea, Côte d’Ivoire, Switzerland
Group G: Germany, Colombia, North Korea, El Salvador
Group H: Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, Zambia
Group I: United States, Burkina Faso, Tajikistan, Czechia
Group J: Paraguay, Uzbekistan, Panama, Ireland
Group K: France, Chile, Canada, Uganda
Group L: Mali, New Zealand, Austria, Saudi Arabia

 

Matchday 1 (3–5 November)

Monday 3 November
South Africa 3–1 Bolivia
Costa Rica 1–1 UAE
Senegal 0–0 Croatia
Japan 2–0 Morocco
Argentina 3–2 Belgium
New Caledonia 1–6 Portugal
Qatar 0–1 ITALY
Tunisia 6–0 Fiji

Tuesday 4 November
Ivory Coast 1–4 Switzerland
Brazil 7–0 Honduras
Mexico 1–2 South Korea
Haiti 1–4 Egypt
Germany 1–1 Colombia
England 0–3 Venezuela
North Korea 5–0 El Salvador
Indonesia 1–3 Zambia

Wednesday 5 November
Tajikistan 1–6 Czechia
Panama 1–4 Ireland
Paraguay 1–2 Uzbekistan
Austria 1–0 Saudi Arabia
Mali 3–0 New Zealand
USA 1–0 Burkina Faso
France 2–0 Chile
Canada 2–1 Uganda

Matchday 2 (6–8 November)

Thursday 6 November
Bolivia 0–4 ITALY
Portugal 6–0 Morocco
Japan 0–0 New Caledonia
Argentina 1–0 Tunisia
Fiji 0–7 Belgium
UAE 0–3 Croatia
Qatar 1–1 South Africa
Senegal 1–0 Costa Rica

Friday 7 November
England 8–1 Haiti
El Salvador 0–0 Colombia
Germany 1–1 North Korea
Egypt 1–1 Venezuela
Mexico 1–0 Ivory Coast
Switzerland 0–0 South Korea
Brazil 4–0 Indonesia
Zambia 5–2 Honduras

Saturday 8 November
Czechia 1–2 Burkina Faso
Uganda 1–1 Chile
Mali 0–3 Austria
France 0–0 Canada
USA 2–1 Tajikistan
Paraguay 2–1 Panama
Ireland 2–1 Uzbekistan
Saudi Arabia 3–2 New Zealand

Matchday 3 (9–11 November)

Sunday 9 November
Fiji 0–7 Argentina
Belgium 2–0 Tunisia
Portugal 1–2 Japan
Morocco 16–0 New Caledonia
UAE 0–5 Senegal
Croatia 3–1 Costa Rica
Bolivia 0–0 Qatar
ITALY 3–1 South Africa

Monday 10 November
Switzerland 3-1 Mexico
South Korea 3-1 Ivory Coast
El Salvador 0-7 Germany
Colombia 2-0 North Korea
Zambia 1-1 Brazil
Honduras 1-2 Indonesia
Egypt 0-3 England
Venezuela 4-2 Haiti

Tuesday 11 November
Uganda 1-0 France
Chile 2-1 Canada
Ireland 0-0 Paraguay
Uzbekistan 6-1 Panama
Czechia 0-1 USA
Burkina Faso 2-0 Tajikistan
Saudi Arabia 0-2 Mali
New Zealand 1-4 Austria

 

GROUP STANDINGS

Group A: ITALY 9, South Africa 4, Qatar 2, Bolivia 1
Group B: Japan 7, Portugal 6, Morocco 3, New Caledonia 1
Group C: Senegal 7 (+6), Croatia 7 (+5), Costa Rica 1 (−3), UAE 1 (−8)
Group D: Argentina 9, Belgium 6, Tunisia 3, Fiji 0
Group E: Venezuela 7, England 6, Egypt 4, Haiti 0
Group F: Switzerland 7 (+5), South Korea 7 (+3), Mexico 3, Ivory Coast 0
Group G: Germany 5 (+7), Colombia 5 (+2), North Korea 4, El Salvador 1
Group H: Brazil 7 (+11), Zambia 7 (+5), Indonesia 3, Honduras 0
Group I: USA 9, Burkina Faso 6, Czechia 3, Tajikistan 0
Group J: Ireland 7, Uzbekistan 6, Paraguay 4, Panama 0
Group K: France 4 (+1), Canada 4 (0), Uganda 4 (0), Chile 4 (−1)
Group L: Austria 9, Mali 6, Saudi Arabia 3, New Zealand 0

 

Knockout Stage (14–15 November)

Round of 16 (Friday 14 and Saturday 15 November)

Friday 14 November

  • 13:30: Zambia vs. Mali, Aspire Zone, Field 8, Doha
  • 13:30: Portugal vs. Belgium, Aspire Zone, Field 3, Doha
  • 14:00: Switzerland vs. Egypt, Aspire Zone, Field 5, Doha
  • 14:30: France vs. Colombia, Aspire Zone, Field 1, Doha
  • 15:45: Argentina vs. Mexico, Aspire Zone, Field 2, Doha
  • 16:15: Ireland vs. Canada, Aspire Zone, Field 4, Doha
  • 16:45: United States vs. Morocco, Aspire Zone, Field 7, Doha
  • 16:45: Brazil vs. Paraguay, Aspire Zone, Field 9, Doha

Saturday 15 November

  • 13:30: Senegal vs. Uganda, Aspire Zone, Field 7, Doha
  • 13:30: South Korea vs. England, Aspire Zone, Field 8, Doha
  • 14:00: ITALY vs. Czechia, Aspire Zone, Field 1, Doha
  • 14:30: Japan vs. South Africa, Aspire Zone, Field 3, Doha
  • 15:45: Germany vs. Burkina Faso, Aspire Zone, Field 2, Doha
  • 16:15: Venezuela vs. North Korea, Aspire Zone, Field 4, Doha
  • 16:45: Austria vs. Tunisia, Aspire Zone, Field 5, Doha
  • 16:45: Croatia vs. Uzbekistan, Aspire Zone, Field 9, Doha