⚽ Italy – Key Euro Statistics ⚽
Appearances in euros: 10
European titles: 2
Best finish: Winners (1968, 2020)
Euro record: G21 E18 P6
Goals scored: 52
Biggest victory: 3-0 (vs Türkiye and vs Switzerland in Euro 2020)
Player to watch: Federico Dimarco
World ranking: nineth
Group calendar:
- June, 15: Italy vs Albania (BVB Stadion, Dortmund, 21:00 local time/19:00 GMT)
- June 20th: Spain vs Italy (Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, 21:00 local time/19:00 GMT)
- June 24: Croatia vs Italy (Leipzig Stadium, Leipzig, 21:00 local time/19:00 GMT)
How to follow our Euro 2024 coverage: Euro 2024 on Al Jazeera
Italy arrives at the Euro Cup as defending champions, but the title comes without aura; has been gradually eroding since that incredible summer night at Wembley, London, in 2021.
Less than a year after their greatest Euro glory, the Azzurri faced the ignominy of missing out on the 2022 Qatar World Cup after a stunning injury-time goal saw them lose the playoff semi-final to the minnows of North Macedonian football.
Their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was equally tense.
After their first two qualifying matches (a loss to England and a win over Malta), Italy was rocked by the resignation of coach Roberto Mancini after more than five years in charge.
He was replaced by Luciano Spalletti, whose first match in charge was a 1-1 draw, which was also against his 2022 nemesis, North Macedonia. With just one win in their first three games, qualification for Euro 2024 suddenly looked precarious.
A streak of three wins in four games saw Italy enter the final group game against Ukraine knowing that a loss would take them to the playoffs. A tense goalless draw ensured a direct pass to the Euro Cup thanks to their superior record in direct confrontations.
The bet went wrong
To complement their qualification woes, the Italian team's preparations were rocked by a betting scandal in which police visited the national team's training center in Coverciano before their qualifying matches in October to question Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo. The duo subsequently left camp and Tonali received a 10-month suspension from the Italian Football Federation.
Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli also received a seven-month ban after being found guilty in the investigation, but was included in Italy's final 26-player squad for Euro 2024.
His inclusion is indicative of the dearth of attacking options in front of Spalletti.
Zaniolo and striker Domenico Berardi were ruled out of the tournament through injury, while Marco Verratti and Lorenzo Insigne no longer play for their clubs in Europe and have fallen out of national favour.
Injuries have hampered Federico Chiesa's progress, with the 26-year-old Juventus striker yet to regain the form that saw him light up Euro 2020.
Gianluca Scamacca, who scored 19 goals for Europa League winners Atalanta this season, is expected to lead the front line but has scored just one goal for Italy in his 15 appearances.
Giacomo Raspadori is the other attacking option at Spalletti's disposal, but he has only managed 12 goals in the last two seasons.
Defense is the best form of attack.
All of this points to a side that will be built around its defense. Unsurprisingly, the Azzurri are not short of talent in this department – their 30-man preliminary squad includes 11 defenders.
Of these 11, four were from Inter Milan (before Francesco Acerbi's late withdrawal through injury) and, given the Nerazzurri's parsimonious defense this year, Inter's three remaining defenders are likely to start in Germany.
The 22 goals conceded by Inter in Serie A this season are the lowest among all clubs in Europe's top five leagues. The feat was achieved by playing a defense of three. So replicating a system with a group of defenders already comfortable playing in it seems almost a no-brainer for Spalletti's national team at Euro 2024.
The coach used a three-man defense for the first time during his tenure in the March 2024 friendlies against Venezuela and Ecuador, with Italy winning both. The sample size is small but the ceiling could be high.
A backline consisting of Alessandro Bastoni and Alessandro Boungiorni, Acerbi's likely replacement, with Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian as full-backs is, on paper, one of the best defenses at Euro 2024.
But will that be enough to advance in the tournament?
Spalletti admitted in an interview with Sky Italia that there are other countries that are at a higher level than Italy but he backed his team to compete with them.
“Our goal is to return from Germany and hear the Italians say, 'We are proud of you,'” he said.
Drawn into a tough group that includes Spain, Croatia and Albania, even reaching the quarter-finals would go a long way towards Spalletti achieving his goal.
If the Italians manage to pull off an unlikely coup in the tournament, they will join Germany and Spain as the record three-time European champions.
⚽ Italy's final squad for Euro 2024 ⚽
Captain: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris St Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham Hotspur)
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Gianluca Mancini (Rome)
Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Hellas Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma)
Forward: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio)
You can follow the action on Al Jazeera's dedicated Euro 2024 tournament page with all the match build-up and live text commentary, and stay up to date with the group standings and real-time match results and times.
