Italy Now · Gli AzzurriItaly.Start again, properly.
Four World Cups. One European title. Another World Cup missed. Roberto Mancini returns with a simple but difficult brief: give Italy a first step that can survive pressure.
Italy
Where Italy stand now
September 2026 updateItaly's current story is unusually stark. The team that won Euro 2020 has now missed a third consecutive World Cup, losing the 2026 European play-off final to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties after a 1–1 draw. That makes the autumn window more than a normal schedule: it is the first public test of whether the reset has a shape.
FIGC appointed Roberto Mancini as head coach in July, with Claudio Ranieri taking a technical-director role. The first task is immediate: six Nations League matches in Group A1 against Belgium, Türkiye and France.
Mancini is back
Italy's new-old coach inherits a talented but unsettled group and a calendar that demands clarity quickly.
Read the FIGC announcement →The penalty exit
Bosnia and Herzegovina won the play-off final shoot-out after Italy fought back to 1–1.
Read UEFA's match report →Belgium in Rome
The first Nations League night will reveal whether Italy can make the new cycle feel coherent.
See the calendar →Confirmed context: FIGC national-team updates and UEFA European Qualifiers. The interpretation is editorial analysis.
The play-off: one more painful margin
European Qualifiers · March 2026Scores are from Italy's perspective. The chart records goals in regulation and extra time; shoot-out kicks are excluded.
| Form | Stage | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| W | Group I05 Sep 2025 | 5–0 | Estonia |
| W | Group I09 Jun 2025 | 2–0 | Moldova |
| L | Group I06 Jun 2025 | 0–3 | Norway |
| L | Play-off final31 Mar 2026 | 1–1 (3–4p) | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Goals scored and conceded
The Estonia win showed Italy's ability to produce a clean, emphatic result when the structure held.
Conceded in the Norway defeat, the result that made the qualifying route much harder.
The play-off final went to penalties after Italy recovered from an early deficit.
Play-off report: UEFA match report. Historical qualifying context is kept separate from the editorial reading.
Italy's Nations League: six tests, one group
League A1 · September–November 2026Italy's League A1 schedule is unusually revealing: Belgium offers an immediate home test, Türkiye brings a different transition problem and France supplies the elite reference point twice. Four matches arrive between September 25 and October 5; the group closes in November.
Dates and venues: UEFA fixture list and FIGC schedule announcement, checked September 6, 2026.
Players who can define the reset
Watchlist, not a confirmed squadBarella is the connector
Nicolò Barella gives Italy intensity, but his most valuable work in this cycle may be quieter: arriving close enough to make the next pass available when the first route disappears.
The core watchlist is balanced between continuity and pressure. Gianluigi Donnarumma remains the emotional reference point; Alessandro Bastoni can make the first line braver; Barella and Sandro Tonali can decide whether possession moves forward; Federico Dimarco supplies width and Mateo Retegui offers a penalty-box reference.
The point is not to select a starting XI in September. It is to see whether the next coach can create enough shared habits that the team does not depend on one moment of inspiration.
For the longer honours story, read Italy's World Cup and European Championship record.
The tactical reset: safer first, braver second
Editorial model
Explore three Italian connections
Choose how Italy can reach Retegui, progress through Barella or protect the centre after possession turns.
Find Retegui before the box closes
Italy need the forward pass to arrive while the defensive line is still moving.
- Connect through midfield first.
- Keep Dimarco wide.
- Prepare the second action.
Retegui fixes the line
An earlier reference gives Italy somewhere to play beyond possession.
Barella accelerates the move
His next action should turn control into penetration.
Bastoni holds the platform
The first build-up player also protects the space behind the attack.
The pathway after the missed World Cup
Development questionMissing another World Cup changes the value of every autumn match. Italy can use the Nations League to protect experienced leaders while giving the next generation meaningful minutes, but the balance must be deliberate. A rebuild that only rotates names will not solve the distance between defence, midfield and the final pass.
The useful measure is not simply age. It is whether the younger players are learning the same decisions as the senior core: when to pause, when to press, when to play through and when to reset. That is how a new cycle becomes more than a reaction to a painful result.
Italy Now: frequently asked questions
Quick answersWhen is Italy's next match?
Italy play Belgium on September 25, 2026 at Stadio Olimpico in Rome in the UEFA Nations League.
Who is Italy's head coach?
Roberto Mancini returned as Italy head coach in July 2026. Claudio Ranieri was appointed technical director and Club Italia president.
Did Italy qualify for the 2026 World Cup?
No. Italy drew 1–1 with Bosnia and Herzegovina and lost the play-off final 4–3 on penalties.
What is Italy's next major target?
The immediate target is the 2026–27 Nations League. The Azzurri are in League A Group A1 with Belgium, Türkiye and France.
Sources & verification
Checked September 6, 2026Match facts and appointments are checked against official federation and confederation publications. Analysis, watchlists and tactical diagrams are editorial.