The perfect day. The Under-21 National Team comfortably beat Norway 3-0 away from home thanks to a fantastic Tommaso Baldanzi hat-trick, while the Republic of Ireland were held to a 2-2 draw by Latvia in Cork. Combined, these two results mean that the Azzurrini have taken a giant step towards the 2025 European Under-21 Championship in Slovakia. Now, Italy just need to avoid defeat to the Irish in Trieste on 15 October to secure top spot. “Congratulations to the boys,” said Head Coach Carmine Nunziata. “It was a difficult match against a strong side, but the team did all that they could in terms of their play, intensity and desire. We’ll enjoy this win before turning our thoughts to the match against the Republic of Ireland. Baldanzi possesses real quality and that was on display, but I’d like to praise the entire team. After all, Baldanzi can only do certain things if the team put him in a position to do them.”

From Pio Esposito’s four-goal haul against San Marino to Baldanzi’s three-goal tally against Norway, who also fell victim to the Roma midfielder in the reverse fixture in Bolzano: “We’re delighted because it was important to pick up three points,” he said. “We managed to do just this, and now we’ll celebrate before calmly turning our attentions to the Republic of Ireland. We’ll need to play to win that game and not just draw. Scoring ten goals across two matches against San Marino and Norway is satisfying, and we put in the hard work to prepare for these games. We’re a great group and a strong team, and we hope to go as far as possible.”

THE MATCH. Compared to the home match against San Marino, Nunziata made four changes to his starting line-up for the clash in Stavanger, with Zanotti, Pirola, Fabbian and Ndour all coming into the side (the latter replaced the injured Fazzini after 15 minutes in Latina). Baldanzi was included after recovering from the back injury he suffered at the Stadio Francioni. After Mvuka had fired narrowly wide for the hosts, Italy took the lead in the tenth minute: Gnonto picked out Baldanzi, who stayed composed to beat Tangvik from inside the box. Gnonto was once again involved shortly afterwards as he headed a Ruggeri cross over the bar. In the closing stages, after a yellow card for Coppola (who will now be suspended for the game against the Irish), Arnstad sent a free-kick over the bar.

Norway made the better start to the second half: Østrøm nodded over, while Desplanches made a magnificent save to keep out Arnstad’s right-footed strike from outside the box. Nunziata replaced Esposito with Pisilli, who immediately shot over over the bar and then, after being picked out by Zanotti, hit the post via the fingertips of Tangvik.

With 72 minutes on the clock, after a fine team move, Baldanzi let fly with a ferocious left-footed strike that flew past the goalkeeper. Eight minutes later, the Roma man used his left foot again to curl into the net. Three goals, each one better than the previous, as Italy took a giant step towards the finals in Slovakia.

NORWAY 0-3 ITALY
GOALS: 10’, 72’ and 80’ Baldanzi

NORWAY (5-3-2): Tangvik; Lovik (87’ Braude), Hjelde, Mannsverk (46’ Aasgaard), Østrøm, Edh; Jatta (63’ Nordas), Hansen-Aaroen, Arnstad; Mvuka (87’ Nypan), Broholm (63’ Orjasaeter). Subs: Ree, Skaret, Guddal, Melkeresn. Head Coach Jalland

ITALY (4-3-1-2): Desplanches; Zanotti, Coppola, Pirola, Ruggeri; Fabbian (87’ Savona), Bove, Ndour; Baldanzi (87’ Ghilardi); Esposito (57’ Pisilli), Gnonto (87’ Raimondo). Subs: Zacchi, Bianco, Ambrosino, Bonfanti, Tongya. Head Coach: Nunziata

Referee: Bogár (Hungary). Assistants: Georgiou-Szalai (Hungary). Fourth official: Csonka (Hungary)

Note: Coppola (I) and Hjelde (N) booked

2025 UEFA EURO UNDER-21 QUALIFYING - GROUP A

Tuesday 10 September
Republic of Ireland 2-2 Latvia  
Norway 0-3 ITALY
20:30 CEST – San Marino vs. Türkiye

Table (number of games played in brackets): ITALY (9) 21 points, Republic of Ireland (8) 17, Norway (8) 15, Latvia (8) 8, Türkiye (7) 7, San Marino (8) 0

ITALY’S NEXT FIXTURES
Tuesday 15 October: ​​Italy vs. Republic of Ireland