After the two wins in September – in Portugal in the Elite League and in Varese against Switzerland in a friendly – the National Under 20 team return to action for a two matches in the tournament that the Azzurrini will be hoping to win again as defending champions. Italy will face Romania on Thursday 17 November in Arad at 20.00 CET (21.00 CET) and the Czech Republic on Monday 21 at the Stadio Enzo Ricci in Sassuolo, with kick-off at 15.00 CET and live coverage on RaiSport.

Coach Carmine Nunziata has called up 25 players, 23 of which are 19 and two 18 (midfielders Giacomo Faticanti from Roma and Cher Ndour from Benfica). The Azzurrini will gather on the evening of Sunday 13 in Osio Sotto (Bergamo), before departing for Romania on Tuesday 15. After the first of two matches, the national team will return to Italy and train in Sassuolo ahead of the challenge against the Czech Republic.

The Under 20 team will play in Sassuolo for the third time in history, where as well as the match a year ago against Romania (winning 7-0, the third win out of four in previous meetings with the Romanians) they drew 3-3 with Germany in November 2018. The head-to-head with the Czech Republic is less favourable: in the four previous matches played, the Azzurrini have lost three times, with the only victory back in September 2019 in Prestice.

The Squad List

Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Vicenza), Jacopo Sassi (Giugliano), Gioele Zacchi (Sassuolo);
Defenders: Filippo Fiumanò (Aquila Montevarchi), Alessandro Fontanarosa (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Mantova), Gabriele Mulazzi (Juventus), Luigi Palomba (Cagliari), Edoardo Pieragnolo (Sassuolo), Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus), Mattia Zanotti (Inter);
Midfielders: Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli), Duccio Degli Innocenti (Empoli), Giovanni Fabbian (Reggina), Giacomo Faticanti (Roma), Jacopo Fazzini (Empoli), Samuel Giovane (Ascoli), Cher Ndour (Benfica), Filippo Terracciano (Verona), Luciano Valente (Groningen), Antonio Vergara (Pro Vercelli);
Attackers: Giuseppe Ambrosino di Bruttopilo (Como), Tommaso De Nipoti (Atalanta), Daniele Montevago (Sampdoria), Marco Nasti (Cosenza)

Staff – Coach: Carmine Nunziata; Head Coach: Gianfranco Serioli; Assistant Coach: Emanuele Filippini; Athletic Trainer: Vito Azzone; Goalkeeping Coach: Fabrizio Ferron; Match Analyst: Marco Mannucci; Doctors: Carmelo Papotto, Lorenzo Ticca e Raffaele Iorio; Physiotherapist: Giuseppe Galli e Angelo Cartocci; Nutritionist: Alessio Colli; Secretary: Aldo Blessich.

Italy's fixtures and results in the Elite League:

7 June 2022: ITALY 0-1 Poland
23 September 2022: Portugal 1-2 ITALY
17 November 2022: Romania vs. ITALY
21 November 2022: ITALY vs. Czech Republic
23 March 2023: Norway vs. ITALY
27 March 2023: ITALY vs. Germany