Norway, Switzerland and France. These will be the National Under-21 team's opponents in the final phase of the European Championships scheduled from 21 June to 8 July 2023 in Romania and Georgia. "It could have gone much better, considering that among the teams in the third pot we were matched with Switzerland, which I believe to be the strongest, but I believe that our opponents are not happy about having to face Italy either". The words of coach Paolo Nicolato, present at the draw that took place in Bucharest. "A difficult group, balanced and of a high level but that motivates us a lot: for this reason it will be even more important for us to prepare for the European Championships by facing strong opposition. We know France and Norway are, as always, a very physical team. We hope to get there well and with a good level of playing time, as all the opponents are made up of players who play a lot". 

Placed in Group D, Italy - which in the draw started from pot 2 - will play its three matches in Cluj-Napoca, at the Cluj Arena, a 30,000-seat stadium opened in 2011: the opening match on Thursday 22 June against France, the second match on Sunday 25 against Switzerland, and finally on Wednesday 28 against Norway. The top two from each group qualify for the knockout phase.

Europe will have three places at the men's football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics, not counting the automatically qualified host nation, France. The best three finishers at the final stage (in addition to France and England, who cannot qualify) will participate in the tournament. If necessary, a play-off will be held in Bucharest.

 

BACKGROUND - Italy and France, opponents in the opening match of the European Championships, have already met 17 times: the record being seven victories for the Azzurrini, six draws (including the 1-1 in May 2018, the last direct meeting, Capone scored for Italy) and four wins for the Bleus. On the other hand, they have faced off against Switzerland fourteen times: six wins for the Azzurrini, with seven draws (including the one in August 2011, 1-1 in a friendly in Varese with an Italian goal by Borini, the last meeting between the two national teams at Under-21 level) and one Swiss victory. Finally, there have been eight previous meetings with Norway: four wins, three draws (including the one in the last match in March 2018, 1-1 in a friendly in Perugia with Vido's goal) and one defeat for Italy.

UEFA UNDER 21 EURO 2023 (Romania-Georgia, 21 June-8 July 2023)

GROUP A
Georgia
Portugal
Belgium
Netherlands

GROUP B
Romania
Spain
Ukraine
Croatia

GROUP C
Czech Republic
England
Germany
Israel

GROUP D
Norway
Switzerland
France
Italy

ITALY’S SCHEDULE (all games at the Cluj Arena of Cluj-Napoca, kick-offs to be declared)
Thursday 22 June: France-Italy
Sunday 25 June: Switzerland-Italy
Wednesday 28 June: Italy-Norway

SCHEDULE
Group A/Group B: 21, 24, 27 June
Group C/Group D: 22, 25, 28 June
Quarter-final: 1 and 2 July
Semifinals: 5 July
Final: 8 July

Knockout stage
Quarter-final 1: Winner Group A – Runner-up Group C
Quarter-final 2: Winner Group C - Runner-up Group A
Quarter-final 3: Winner Group B - Runner-up Group D
Quarter-final 4: Winner Group D - Runner-up Group B

Semifinal 1: Winner Quarter-final 1 - Winner Quarter-final 2
Semifinal 2: Winner Quarter-final 3 - Winner Quarter-final 4

Final: Winner of semifinal 1 – Winner of semifinal 2