The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan will host Italy vs. Norway on 16 November at 20:45 CET, the Azzurri’s final match in Group I of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Italy will resume their World Cup qualifying campaign on 5 and 8 September, taking on Estonia in Bergamo and Israel on neutral ground in Debrecen, before returning to Milan eight months after their defeat against Germany in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals. In that match on 20 March 2025, the Azzurri played in front of 60,000 fans, setting a record for the highest-ever revenue from a National Team fixture.

THE SITUATION IN GROUP I. In the first two group matches, played in June, Italy lost 3-0 to Norway in Oslo before bouncing back with a 2-0 victory over Moldova in Reggio Emilia. The Azzurri are currently third in the standings, three points behind Israel and nine behind Norway, who have played one and two more games respectively. The top team in the group will qualify directly for the World Cup finals, while the runner-up will have to go through the play-offs to earn their spot.

THE AZZURRI IN MILAN. The second city after Rome to have hosted the highest number of Italy games (63 in Milan compared 65 in the capital, with a record 39 wins, 19

draws and five defeats), Milan also served as the headquarters of the Italian Football Federation from 1905 to 1911. Over the years, the Azzurri have played in four different stadiums in the city: the Arena Civica, the Velodromo Sempione (demolished in 1928), the Campo Milan on Viale Lombardia, and San Siro, which was renamed after Giuseppe Meazza on 3 March 1980.

In the capital of Lombardy, the Azzurri remained unbeaten in a run that lasted almost a century, from a 2-1 defeat to Hungary in  January 1925 (at the Campo Milan; previously, they’d lost to the same side in 1911, but at the Arena Civica) to a 2-1 loss to Spain in October 2021 at the Meazza. Italy’s biggest victory in Milan remains their 9-4 win over France on 18 January 1920, while the team they have faced most often in the city is Austria (six times), followed by Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary and Portugal (five each).

THE NEXT GAMES FOR THE AZZURRI IN GROUP I

5 September 2025 (20:45 CEST): Italy vs. Estonia – Bergamo, Stadio di Bergamo

8 September 2025 (20:45 CEST): Israel vs. Italy – Debrecen, Nagyerdei Stadion

11 October 2025 (20:45 CEST): Estonia vs. Italy – Tallinn, A. Le Coq Arena

14 October 2025 (20:45 CEST): Italy vs. Israel – Udine, Stadio Friuli

13 November 2025 (20:45 CET): Moldova vs. Italy

16 November 2025 (20:45 CET): Italy vs. Norway – Milan, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza