Florence, Amsterdam, Parma, Gdansk and Milan are the cities set to host the Italian National Team’s upcoming fixtures, who will be returning to the pitch between September and November almost a year after their last outing (a 9-1 win over Armenia on 18 November last year in Palermo). It will be a packed schedule, with eight matches in two months between 4 September and 18 November, consisting of a mixture of fixtures for the new edition of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League and two friendlies in preparation for EURO 2020 following the competition’s postponement until 2021. 

International fixtures for September and October were confirmed yesterday, with all matches having a 20:45 CEST kick-off. The Azzurri will be getting back to the pitch for their first two Nations League matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday 4 September at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence and then against the Netherlands on Monday 7 September at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. The Azzurri will then be playing three matches in October, starting with a friendly against Moldova on Wednesday 7 October at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in Parma, before two Nations League clashes with Poland on Sunday 11 at the Energa Arena in Gdansk and the Netherlands on Wednesday 14 at San Siro in Milan. The year of international football will come to a close with three more Azzurri matches in November. The first two will be at home (locations to be determined by the end of this month): a friendly against Estonia on Wednesday 11 before the last two matches to decide Italy’s fate in this round of the Nations League, with the Azzurri facing Poland on Sunday 15 and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday 18.

Previous Azzurri matches in Florence, Parma and Milan. Italy are unbeaten in Florence, where they have played 26 matches, with 20 wins and six draws. Their last match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi was five years ago: a goal from Graziano Pellé was the difference in a 1-0 win over Malta for the Azzurri, securing three precious points towards EURO 2016 qualification. It will be the Italy’s eighth match in Parma, where Mancini's Azzurri side put six past Liechtenstein in March 2019: so far six wins and one defeat (against France in 2012). Milan will be able to join Rome at the top of the ranking of the cities to have hosted the National Team the most times (59) and will thus be able to celebrate the Azzurri in the 110th anniversary of their debut at the Arena Civica: in the 58 matches played in the Lombardian capital, Italy have faced 23 opponents (including two friendlies against the Netherlands: two wins in 1928 and 1979, with scores of 3-2 and 3-0), coming out with 37 wins, 18 draws, two defeats and an average of 2.24 points per game (130 points in 58 games). The Azzurri haven’t lost in Milan for 95 years and are unbeaten in their 45 matches played at San Siro.

Previous matches in Amsterdam and Gdansk. This will be the Azzurri’s eleventh trip to Amsterdam: in addition to the five matches played against the Netherlands on their home turf (two wins and three draws), Italy played five games there at the 1928 Olympics, taking home the bronze medal after four wins, four draws and one loss). Italy have only ever played once in Gdansk, drawing 1-1 with Spain in the Group Stage of EURO 2012.

Previous encounters with our upcoming opponents. The Azzurri have faced Bosnia and Herzegovina on three occasions: after a 2-1 defeat in a friendly in November 1996, the Italian National Team have won both their encounters in EURO 2020 Qualifiers (2-1 in Turin and 3-0 in Zenica). Italy have also got a good record against the Netherlands: of their 21 encounters, Italy have won nine, drawn nine and lost just three. The last encounter, in Turin in June 2018, was Roberto Mancini’s first home match at the helm, and finished 1-1 (the goals scored by Zaza and Aké). In the 16 games played against Poland: six wins, seven draws and three defeats. In fact, Poland are the only one of the five nations that the Azzurri have already faced in the Nations League, with the results being a 0-0 draw in Bologna and a 1-0 win in Chorzow. The National Team have won all of their last four matches against Moldova and all of their last six against Estonia.

Italy’s 2020 match schedule:
September 4, 2020 (Nations League): Italy vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (8:45pm CEST) - Florence
7 September 2020 (Nations League): Netherlands vs. Italy (8:45pm CEST) - Amsterdam
7 October 2020 (friendly): Italy vs. Moldova (8:45pm CEST) - Parma
11 October 2020 (Nations League): Poland vs. Italy (8:45pm CEST) - Gdansk
14 October 2020 (Nations League): Italy vs. the Netherlands (8:45pm CEST) - Milan
11 November 2020 (friendly): Italy vs. Estonia (8:45pm CEST)
15 November 2020 (Nations League): Italy vs. Poland (8:45pm CEST)
18 November 2020 (Nations League): Bosnia and Hezegovina vs. Italy (8:45pm CEST)