# Italy national under-20 football team

Italy national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.
The team competes for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years, and for the Under-20 Elite League, held every year.

## History

The Under-20 team is de facto based on the previous year's Under-19 team and acts mainly as a support team for the Under-21 selection, providing further international experience for young selectable players.
The team competes for its only official tournament, the FIFA U-20 World Cup, depending on the U19s results at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship held in the even-numbered years, that qualifies European teams for the U-20 World Cup.
The best result obtained by the Italian team in the U-20 World Cup is the second place achieved in the 2023 edition held in Argentina, losing 1–0 against Uruguay. They finished also third in 2017 and fourth in 2019. Italy managed to qualify for the first time for two consecutive U-20 World Cups after winning its group at the 2018 European U-19 Championship, then finishing fourth at the following year's World Cup.
Each season the team mainly participates in friendly tournaments, in which overage players may also be selected. The U20 team participated until 2017 in the annual Four Nations Tournament with Germany, Switzerland and Poland (which replaced Austria). Since the 2017–18 season, the Italy U20 team participates in the annual Under 20 Elite League, expanded to 8 participants.
The team also had an annual fixture with the Serie D Best XI after the end of the season.

## FIFA U-20 World Cup record

| Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
| 1977 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 1979 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1981 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 1983 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1985 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1987 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 1989 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1991 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1993 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1995 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1997 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1999 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2001 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2003 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2005 | Quarter-finals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 |
| 2007 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2009 | Quarter-finals | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| 2011 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2013 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2015 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2017 | Third place | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| 2019 | Fourth place | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| 2021 | Qualified but cancelled | Qualified but cancelled | Qualified but cancelled | Qualified but cancelled | Qualified but cancelled | Qualified but cancelled | Qualified but cancelled |
| 2023 | Runners-up | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 |
| 2025 | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified |
| Total | 8/23 | 41 | 18 | 8 | 15 | 57 | 51 |
    *Draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.

## Current squad

The following 22 players were called up for the Under 20 Elite League matches against Czech Republic and Germany on 5 and 10 September 2024, respectively.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club |
| 1GK | Federico Magro | (2005-01-10) 10 January 2005 (age 20) | Hellas Verona |
| 1GK | Lorenzo Torriani | (2005-01-31) 31 January 2005 (age 20) | Milan |
| 2DF | Davide Bartesaghi | (2005-12-29) 29 December 2005 (age 19) | Milan Futuro |
| 2DF | Fabio Chiarodia | (2005-06-05) 5 June 2005 (age 19) | Borussia Monchengladbach |
| 2DF | Pietro Comuzzo | (2005-02-20) 20 February 2005 (age 20) | Fiorentina |
| 2DF | Christian Corradi | (2005-02-21) 21 February 2005 (age 20) | Hellas Verona |
| 2DF | Riyad Idrissi | (2005-06-13) 13 June 2005 (age 19) | Modena |
| 2DF | Filippo Mané | (2005-03-08) 8 March 2005 (age 20) | Borussia Dortmund |
| 2DF | Marco Palestra | (2005-03-03) 3 March 2005 (age 20) | Atalanta |
| 3MF | Pietro Candelari | (2005-01-21) 21 January 2005 (age 20) | Spezia |
| 3MF | Aaron Ciammaglichella | (2005-01-26) 26 January 2005 (age 20) | Torino |
| 3MF | Matteo Cichella | (2005-10-04) 4 October 2005 (age 19) | Frosinone |
| 3MF | Luca Di Maggio | (2005-03-31) 31 March 2005 (age 19) | Perugia |
| 3MF | Jonas Harder | (2005-09-30) 30 September 2005 (age 19) | Fiorentina |
| 3MF | Luca Lipani (captain) | (2005-05-18) 18 May 2005 (age 19) | Sassuolo |
| 3MF | Jacopo Sardo | (2005-03-08) 8 March 2005 (age 20) | Saarbrücken |
| 3MF | Kevin Zeroli | (2005-01-11) 11 January 2005 (age 20) | Monza |
| 4FW | Lorenzo Anghelè | (2005-02-26) 26 February 2005 (age 20) | Juventus Next Gen |
| 4FW | Giacomo De Pieri | (2006-12-29) 29 December 2006 (age 18) | Internazionale |
| 4FW | Giulio Misitano | (2005-01-30) 30 January 2005 (age 20) | Roma |
| 4FW | Francesco Presta | (2005-04-05) 5 April 2005 (age 19) | Fiorentina |
| 4FW | Dominic Vavassori | (2005-12-09) 9 December 2005 (age 19) | Atalanta Under-23 |