After the two games at the start of September against Montenegro (on the 5^th in La Spezia) and North Macedonia (on the 9^th in Bitola), the Azzurrini’s journey in Group E of the European Championship qualifiers will continue in October with two consecutive home games: on Friday, 10 October at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi in Cesena against Sweden, and on Tuesday, 14 October at the Stadio Giovanni Zini in Cremona against Armenia.

THE OPPONENTS. Sweden are one of the teams that the U-21s have faced the most, with 21 previous meetings, 9 victories, 8 draws, and 4 defeats (32-21 as the goal tally). The two sides meet for the third time in the last four qualifying campaigns, after those in the 2023 tournament (two 1-1 draws, in Monza and Helsingborg, with goals from Rovella and Lucca) and in 2021 (a 3-0 away defeat and a 4-1 victory in Pisa, thanks to goals from Maleh, Scamacca, and a brace from Raspadori). On both occasions, Italy finished top of the group and qualified for the final tournament, while Sweden placed third and second, respectively. However, against Armenia, there have only been two direct encounters so far, in the qualifiers for Euro 2021: two wins for the Azzurrini, 1-0 (Scamacca) in Yerevan on 14 October 2019 and 6-0 (2 Kean, Pinamonti, Scamacca, Zanellato, Del Prato) a month later in Catania.

THE VENUES: For the U-21s, it will be their third time playing in Cesena, a little over a year after their 2-0 win over Latvia (22 March 2024, with goals from Casadei and Fabbian) in the qualifiers for the last European Championship, which ended in Slovakia in June 2025, and more than 46 years after the first occasion, a friendly against the Olympic USSR side on 21 February 1979 (0-1, with Oleg Blokhin’s goal). Meanwhile, Cremona will be hosting for the fourth time, where the Azzurrini are on a run of three consecutive wins: they debuted there on 20 April 1983 in a friendly against Spain (2-0, goals from Mancini and Mauro), which also marked the Under-21 debut of local promising talent Gianluca Vialli; followed by consecutive 1-0 wins over Switzerland on 15 October 1992 and 9 October 1998 (goals by Vieri and Pirlo).

GROUP STAGE JOURNEY. The Group E calendar will continue with two more fixtures in November: away trips to Poland (14^th) and Montenegro (18^th), the final games of 2025. In 2026, the Azzurrini will resume play in March against North Macedonia (at home) and Sweden (away), before finishing the group stage in October, after a long seven-month break, with the final two matches against Armenia and Poland.

THE AZZURRINI’S GROUP E FIXTURES

5 September 2025: Italy vs. Montenegro (La Spezia)

9 September 2025: North Macedonia vs. Italy (Bitola)

10 October 2025: Italy vs. Sweden (Cesena)

14 October 2025: Italy vs. Armenia (Cremona)

14 November 2025: Poland vs. Italy

18 November 2025: Montenegro vs. Italy

26 March 2026: Italy vs. North Macedonia

31 March 2026: Sweden vs. Italy

1 October 2026: Armenia vs. Italy

5 October 2026: Italy vs. Poland