Italy national under-21 football team

Italy Under-21

Nickname(s)	Gli Azzurrini (The Little Blues)
Association	Italian Football Federation (Federazion Italia Giuoco Calcio – FIGC)
Head coach	Carmine Nunziata
Captain	Lorenzo Pirola
Most caps	Andrea Pirlo (46)
Top scorer	Alberto Gilardino (19)
First colours Second colours
First international
U-23: Italy 3–1 Austria (Varese, Italy; 1 November 1970) U-21: Portugal 1–0 Italy (Funchal, Italy; 23 December 1976)
Biggest win
Italy 7–0 Estonia (Catanzaro, Italy; 23 March 1995) Italy 8–1 Wales (Pavia, Italy; 5 September 2003) Italy 7–0 Liechtenstein (Casarano, Italy; 6 September 2012) San Marino 0–7 Italy (Serravale, San Marino; 16 November 2023) Italy 7–0 San Marino (Latina, Italy; 5 September 2024)
Biggest defeat
Norway 6–0 Italy (Stavanger, Norway; 5 June 1991) Records for competitive matches only.
Olympic Games
Appearances	5 (first in 1992)
Best result	Bronze medallist (2004)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	22 (first in 1978)
Best result	Champions (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Medal record Italy national under-21 football team Medal record Men's Football 2004 Athens Team

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 3–3 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 (1–0) in the final. It was the first time they had won this tournament, previously their best had been runner-up on two occasions.^[1]