Two months after securing second place in the group stages of the Nations League, with a 3-0 win over Switzerland, Andrea Soncin's Italy are now ready to get back into action in 2024. On Friday 23 February (18:15 CET), the Azzurre will face the Republic of Ireland at the Rocco B. Commisso Viola Park - Fiorentina's new training complex that will host the National side for the first time - while on Tuesday 27 (18:00 CET) in Algeciras, a Spanish town that sits on the Gibraltar strait, a second friendly has been scheduled against England.

After the excellent run in the new UEFA competition, in a group which also included two world women's football powers in Sweden and Spain - the former being beaten 3-2 on a magical evening in Pontevedra - Italy have set up these preparation games ahead of the start of the 2025 European Championship qualifying campaign, which kick offs in April.

This will be the eighth meeting with the Rep. of Ireland (24th in the FIFA ranking) and the head-to-head record is clearly in the Azzurre's favour, having won six games and drawing once, in 2016 at the Cyprus Cup. They also have a positive record against the reigning European champions (fourth in the FIFA ranking), after already facing them 32 times: Italy have won 17, England nine, with six draws, but Italy are winless since 2012. In the most recent match, played just under a year ago during the Arnold Clark Cup, Sarina Wiegman's side won 2-1.