The European adventure has officially started. At 17:40 local time, the squad landed in Manchester and by coach were immediately taken to Blackburn, a city in the North-West of England that will host the Italy squad for the duration of their stay. Before having the dinner, the players went to the Accrington Stanley Community Trust Centre for a light warm-up session for players to familiarise themselves to the training pitches.

Their arrival in England was preceded by a surprise organised by the Fiumicino Airport, who just as they did back in 2019 prior to the Azzurre’s World Cup departure in France, organised a toast and projected on a large screen a motivational video made by passengers, fans and ex-players to give Gama and Co a big good luck message. There was an air of celebration that accompanied the squad, who cannot wait to get this new European adventure underway. Their opening contest against one of the tournament favourites, France, is still six days away but their minds are already focused on the game in Rotherham.

THE AZZURRE'S GROUP GAMES. Italy has been placed in Group D with France, Iceland and Belgium. The first game will be played in Rotherham with the next two in Manchester, at the Academy stadium of Manchester City. Below is info about previous meetings with the three group opponents.

ITALY – FRANCE - 10 July – 21:00 (CET) - New York Stadium - Rotherham (capacity 12.000 spectators)

France are unbeaten in 16 consecutive games (eight in Euro qualification and eight in World Cup qualification) and have only conceded three goals in that time. During the qualification stages, they were the only team to have not conceded a goal (seven wins and one draw). From an attacking point of view, France are one of five teams to have recorded an average of at least five goals in Euro 2022 qualifying, netting 44 times in eight games (5.5 per game). 34% of the 44 goals scored by the Transalpine were from 23-year old Marie-Antoinette Katoto (eight) and Eugénie Le Sommer (seven), who surprisingly has not been selected. Previous meetings give Italy the advantage: 14 wins in 27 games with six draws and seven losses. But France are currently third in the FIFA World rankings behind the United States and Sweden, and are unbeaten in seven against the Azzurre (five wins and two draws), after being on the losing side eights times in the previous eleven. Italy’s last win against France was on 14 October 2000 in a friendly in Rome. France have won two previous encounters in the European Championships: 2-0 in 2001 and 3-1 in 2005.

ITALY – ICELAND - 14 July – 17:00 (CET) - Manchester City Academy – Manchester (capacity 4.700 spectators)

Iceland are taking part in their fourth European tournament in four successive editions (2009, 2013, 2017, 2022) after not reaching the previous nine tournaments. They have only reached the knock-out stages one time: a quarter-final defeat to Sweden 4-0 in 2013. Elin Metta Jensen was their top goal scorer in qualification. Italy remain unbeaten against the Icelandics in six of their seven previous meetings (won three, drawn three) with the only defeat coming in the 2003 World Cup qualification stages: 2-1 on 8 September 2001. The most recent meetings between the two sides were in April 2021, where two friendlies took place at Coverciano in the space of three days with the Azzurre winning 1-0 and the other game finishing in a 1-1 draw.

ITALY – BELGIUM - 18 July – 17:00 (CET) - Manchester City Academy – Manchester (capacity 4.700 spectators)

Belgium’s last participation in a Euros was the last one in 2017, where they finished third in their group behind Holland and Denmark winning only one of their three games, a 2-0 win over Norway. They are only one of four teams to have not drawn a single game in the 2022 qualification stages with seven wins and a defeat, against Switzerland. Tine De Caigny netted twelve times during qualification - a record in this year's qualification stages - with eight coming in the two games against Lithuania. After winning five of the first six previous games with Belgium, Italy have lost two out of the last three. The last two meetings between the sides were in the 2018 World Cup qualification group stages: a 2-1 win for Italy with goals by Girelli and Rosucci on 10 April in Ferrara, and a defeat in Leuven on 4 September, which left the Red Flames 19th in the FIFA world rankings. Overall, the Azzurre have won six, lost six and drawn the other.

THE SQUAD LIST FOR WOMEN'S EURO 2022

GOALKEEPERS
Francesca DURANTE (Inter), Laura GIULIANI (Milan), Katja SCHROFFENEGGER (Fiorentina);

DEFENDERS
Elisa BARTOLI (AS Roma), Valentina BERGAMASCHI (Milan), Lisa BOATTIN (Juventus), Lucia DI GUGLIELMO (AS Roma), Maria Luisa FILANGERI (Sassuolo), Sara GAMA (Juventus), Martina LENZINI (Juventus), Elena LINARI (AS Roma);

MIDFIELDERS
Arianna CARUSO (Juventus), Valentina CERNOIA (Juventus), Aurora GALLI (Everton), Manuela GIUGLIANO (AS Roma), Martina ROSUCCI (Juventus), Flaminia SIMONETTI (Inter);

FORWARDS
Barbara BONANSEA (Juventus), Agnese BONFANTINI (Juventus), Valentina GIACINTI (Fiorentina), Cristiana GIRELLI (Juventus), Martina PIEMONTE (Milan), Daniela SABATINO (Fiorentina).

STAFF
Head Coach: Milena BERTOLINI. Head of Delegation: Cristiana CAPOTONDI. Accompanying Manager: Chiara MARCHITELLI. Technical Assistants: Nicola MATTEUCCI, Samantha DOLCI. Goalkeeping Coaches: Cristiano VIOTTI, Pasquale PASTORE. Match Analysts: Marco MANNUCCI, Luca DALMASS. Fitness Coaches: Francesco PERONDI, Cristian SAVOIA, Alessandro BUCCOLINI. Secretary: Alessandra SAVINI NICCI (Team Secretary), Annarita STALLONE (Team Coordinator). Doctors: Luca GATTESCHI, Matteo GUZZINI, Alessandro CARCANGIU. Physiotherapists: Maurizio D’ANGELO, Daniele FROSONI, Emanuele PROVINI. Kit Men: Alessio BIORDI, Riccardo VITALE. Communication: Paolo CORBI (Head of Communication); Francesca VITULLO, Niccolò GAETANI (Media Officers).