After the September fixtures with England and Hungary, the last two matches for the Azzurri in the UEFA Nations League, Roberto Mancini’s team will close out 2022 with friendlies against Albania and Austria. The two matches, both scheduled for 20:45 CEST, will be played on Wednesday 16 November at the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana and Sunday 20 November at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna.

The Azzurri will play in Tirana for the first time in their history, despite three previous meetings with Albania. They have won all three, with the third and last victory being a 1-0 win in Shkodra courtesy of an Antonio Candreva goal in a World Cup qualifier on 9 October 2017.

There have been 38 meetings between Italy and Austria with 18 wins, 8 draws and 12 defeats for the Azzurri, in what is a long footballing rivalry dating back to 3 July 1912 (ending 5-1 to the Austrians at the Olympic Games in Stockholm). The most recent meeting was on 26 June 2021 at Wembley, where Italy won 2-1 in extra time in the round of 16 in the European Championships, with goals from Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina.