The Azzurre will begin their World Cup qualifying campaign with home matches against Sweden and Denmark. After the draw on 4 November in Nyon, UEFA published the fixture schedule for the qualifiers.

Italy’s matches in Group A1 will begin with a double Scandinavian clash on Tuesday 3 and Saturday 7 March. They will then have two away trips to face Serbia and Denmark. On 9 June, the final away game will take place in Sweden, four days after the last home game against Serbia. 
Andrea Soncin’s side will have to finish first to gain direct access to the World Cup, taking place from 24 June to 25 July 2027 in Brazil. If they don’t, they will have to play in the play-off round, with games taking place in October and November/December 2026.

THE OPPOSITION. Sweden come into the matches following disappointment at EURO 2025, where they couldn’t get past the quarter-finals and their loss to Spain in the Nations League semi-finals. It will be the fifth time that Italy have faced Sweden, with the Swede’s having won 16 of their 28 meetings with Italy. Denmark, currently ranked 14th in the world, also have a very good record against Italy. The Azzurre have only won five times in their 19 meetings. Italy vs. Serbia is essentially a new meeting, as the two sides have only met once, in 2003 when the Azzurre won 8-0. 

 

LEAGUE A GROUPS

Group 1: Sweden, ITALY, Denmark, Serbia
Group 2: France, The Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Ireland
Group 3: Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine
Group 4: Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia


GROUP 1 SCHEDULE

Tuesday 3 March: Denmark-Serbia, ITALY-Sweden

Saturday 7 March: ITALY-Denmark, Serbia-Sweden

Tuesday 14 April: Serbia-ITALY, Sweden-Denmark

Saturday 18 April: Denmark-ITALY, Sweden-Serbia

Friday 5 June: Denmark-Sweden, ITALY-Serbia

Tuesday 9 June: Serbia-Denmark, Sweden-ITALY