The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.
The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. Italy (along with Spain) is the most successful nation in the history of the competition, with five Championships won (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2004). Italy has also been twice runner-up of the competition, in 1986 and 2013.
From 1990 to 2004 the team established near-total dominance of European Under-21 football, winning five of the seven tournaments.
Italy's Under-21s played the first match at the new Wembley Stadium, on 24 March 2007, against England Under-21s. The game resulted in a 3âÂÂ3 draw, with Giampaolo Pazzini scoring all 3 goals for the Azzurrini.
Prior to the 2008 Olympic games, Italy U-21s went on to win the 2008 Toulon Tournament by beating Chile (1âÂÂ0) in the final. It was the first time they had won this tournament, previously their best had been runner-up on two occasions.
Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, Italy's record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown.
Since 1992 Olympic football changed to a U-23 event, and the European U-21 teams are technically U-23 teams. European national teams qualify for the Olympic football tournament through the UEFA European U-21 Championship.
Mediterranean Games Football tournament was U-23 event in 1993 and 1997.
Source:
The following is a list of matches played in the past 12 months and future matches that have been scheduled. Only official matches are listed.
Players born in 2004 or later are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Players in bold have been already capped with the senior team.
The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against North Macedonia and Sweden on 26 and 31 March 2026, respectively.
Caps and goals as of 31 March 2026, after the match against Sweden.
Following are listed players called up in the previous twelve months who are still eligible to represent the under-21 team.
<sup>INJ</sup> <span style="font-size:90%">Withdrew due to injury</span><br/> <sup>PRE</sup> <span style="font-size:90%">Preliminary squad</span><br/>
Players in bold are still eligible to represent the Under-21 team. Caps and goals with the Olympic team are included.
The following is the top 10 most capped under-21 players:
The following is the top 10 under-21 goalscorers: