Two weeks before they play their opening UEFA Euro 2020 fixture against Turkey at the Stadio Olimpico in Roma on 11 June, Italy will face San Marino at the Sardegna Arena in Cagliari at 20:45 CEST on Friday 28 May. The match against the Sammarinese will be the final fixture the Azzurri will be involved in before their squad for the European Championship is officially confirmed: all national teams are required to register a squad of 26 players by Tuesday 1 June.

Roberto Mancini will announce his squad for the friendly clash against San Marino on Monday 17 May, while the Azzurri will then meet up at the Forte Village in Santa Margherita di Pula (CA) on Monday 24 May.

Following three wins in their opening three World Cup qualifying matches, Roberto Mancini’s men, who have emerged victorious from their last six matches, are now unbeaten in 25 matches (20 wins and five draws), equalling the 25-game undefeated streak achieved by Marcello Lippi’s team between 2004 and 2006 in the process. Only Vittoria Pozzo, who led Italy to two World Cup triumphs in 1934 and 1938, has done better in Azzurri history in this regard (30 games unbeaten between 1935 and 1939).

Italy are set to take to the pitch for the sixth time in Sardinia: their previous five matches in Cagliari saw the Azzurri record two wins, draw twice and suffer a single defeat. The last time they played there was in February 2005, when they took on Russia in a friendly. 

When the Azzurri came up against San Marino in friendlies in 1992 and 2013, they ran out 4-0 winners on both occasions. In May 2017, when Head Coach Ventura was at the helm, an experimental line-up beat the same side 8-0 in Empoli in May 2017.

After their match against San Marino, Mancini’s men will meet up again on Monday 31 May, while they’ll then take on the Czech Republic at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna at 20:45 CEST on Friday 4 June. This will be their final friendly before the European Championship.