Once the European Championship is over, Italy will resume their 2022 World Cup qualifying journey in September. Currently first in Group C following wins against Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania in March, the Azzurri will be aiming to consolidate their position in the standings in the first three games of the new season: on Thursday 2 September, the Azzurri will face Bulgaria at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, while they’ll then take on Switzerland at the St. Jacob Park in Basel three days later. On Wednesday 8 September, Mancini’s men will come up against Lithuania at the Stadio Città del Tricolore in Reggio Emilia.

Italy will thus return to action in Florence and Reggio Emilia ten months on from their friendly win against Estonia and their victory over Poland in the Nations League. It’ll be the National Team’s 30th fixture in the Tuscan capital, where they remain unbeaten following 22 wins and seven draws. In Reggio Emilia, meanwhile, they’ve won three out of three. The Azzurri have also played at St. Jacob-Park on three occasions. After suffering a 4-1 World Cup defeat there on 23 June 1954, Italy won and drew in friendly matches against the Swiss in March 1990 and August 2009 respectively.

Italy have positive records against Bulgaria (eleven wins, seven draws and two defeats), Switzerland (28 wins, 22 draws and eight defeats) and Lithuania (five wins, two draws and no defeats).