The Under-17's second game in the first round of qualifying for the U17 European Championships ended goalless: the Azzurrini failed to break the deadlock in the match against Northern Ireland. Now, they must win their last group game against Greece to finish in top spot, or at least draw to avoid difficulties getting through to the next round.

Massimiliano Favo commented following the game: “Today we missed out on a goal: they came only to defend and take home a draw. We needed to be more focused, but instead we became nervous. What are the positives to take away from this game? Definitely the desire to win. We need to look over some things and thankfully qualification has not yet been decided”.

Masiyev blew the whistle after seven minutes of injury-time, and Northern Ireland's celebrations at the end went to show how good the result was for the visitors. On the other hand, the faces of the Azzurrini as they left the pitch reflected a game where Italy didn’t trouble the Northern Irish keeper, Murdock, pinned back by Waterworth’s defensive set-up.

The game. Favo started eight of the eleven that played in the win over San Marino. The changes included the addition of Verde in the central defence, Cama at right-back and Olivieri in the midfield. The offensive pairing of Camarda and Mosconi remained the same, backed up by attacking midfielder Liberali.

In the 16th minute, Italy threatened to go ahead for the first time with a nice run down the left that ended with Cocchi’s final low cross, saved by Murdock. The Azzurrini tried to intensify the pressure and had another chance with Camarda in the 24th minute.

However, Massimiliano Favo’s side struggled to find space to attack the Northern Irish defence, and the story is the same at the start of the second half. In the 68th minute, substitute Fenney threatened to take the visitors ahead with a counter-attacking run that ends in his shot going wide.

In the 80th minute, Italy had their biggest chance with Maiorana, but the Fiorentina forward couldn’t find the back of the net from the awkward position.

This was essentially the last action of the match. In Forlì against Greece on Tuesday, kicking off at 15:00 live on RaiSport, the best version of Italy will be necessary to qualify for the next round.

Italy 0-0 Northern Ireland
ITALY: Pessina; Colombo (57’ Verde), Vezzosi, Maffessoli, Cocchi (57’ Cama); Olivieri (57’ Coletta), Gariani, Di Nunzio; Liberali (83’ Castiello); Mosconi, Camarda (70’ Maiorana). Unused subs: Nunziante, Garofalo, Plicco. Head Coach: Favo
NORTHERN IRELAND: Murdock; Leacock, Friars (83’ Haughey), Moreland, Devina; Stitt, Mcclure, Doherty; Kelly (66’ Feeney), Savage (75’ Burnside), Hawthorne (66’ Watson). Unused subs: Grainger, Atherton, Graham, Brannigan, O’Neill. Head Coach: Waterworth
REFEREE: Masiyev (AZE). Assistents: Mammadov (AZE) and Mentz (LUS). IV Official: Torres Da Rocha Fernandes (SPA)
NOTES: Circa 700 spectators. Injury-time: 2', 7'. Booked: Hawthorne, Mosconi

The format of the tournament. This first round will see the top two in each group progress to the Elite Round (early 2024), along with the five best third-placed teams from the 13 groups. From there, the 32 teams that have qualified will be split into eight new groups of four, from which the first-placed team, as well as the seven best second-placed teams, can join hosts, Cyprus in the final phase.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Alessandro Nunziante (Benevento), Massimo Pessina (Bologna)
Defenders: Cristian Cama (Roma), Federico Colombo (Milan), Matteo Cocchi (Inter), Christian Garofalo (Napoli), Manuel Maffessoli (Atalanta), Francesco Verde (Juventus), Giorgio Vezzosi (Sassuolo)
Midfielders: Alessandro Di Nunzio (Roma), Federico Coletta (Roma), Niccolò Gariani (Atalanta), Mattia Liberali (Milan), Alessandro Olivieri (Empoli), Elia Plicco (Parma)
Forwards: Francesco Camarda (Milan), Alex Castiello (Atalanta), Stefano Maiorana (Fiorentina), Mattia Mosconi (Inter)

Staff – Head Coach: Massimiliano Favo; National Youth Team Coordinator: Maurizio Viscidi; Delegation Head: Filippo Corti; Club Italia: Giuseppe Martucci; Assistant Coach: Matteo Barella; Fitness Coach: Adalberto Zamuner; Goalkeeping Coach: Davide Quironi; Match analyst: Andrea Loiacono; Doctors: Alessio Rossato and Francesco Maria Nifosi; Physiotherapists: Marco Fiore and Enrico Matera; Nutritionist: Claudio Pecorella; School Tutor: Stefano Presciutti; Secretary: Massimo Petracchini.

Qualifying Round, Group 11: results, fixtures and table

Wednesday 25 October
Northern Ireland 0-2 Greece
Italy 4-0 San Marino

Saturday 28 October
Greece 2-0 San Marino
Italy 0-0 Northern Ireland

Tuesday 31 October
Greece vs. Italy (15:00 CET - Forlì, stadio Tullo Morgagni)
San Marino vs. Northern Ireland (15:00 CET - Santarcangelo di Romagna, Stadio Valentino Mazzola)

Table: Greece 6 points, Italy 4, Northern Ireland 1, and San Marino 0