Italy national under-21 football team

Europe is a continent comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.

Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country primarily located in southwestern Europe with parts of territory in the Atlantic Ocean and across the Mediterranean Sea. The largest part of Spain is situated on the Iberian Peninsula; its territory also includes the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. The country's mainland is bordered to the south by Gibraltar; to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea; to the north by France, Andorra and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the second-largest country in the European Union (EU) and, with a population exceeding 47.4 million, the fourth-most populous EU member state. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Málaga, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Bilbao.

Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Women's football was added to the official program at the Atlanta 1996 Games.

The men's football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics was held in Sydney and four other cities in Australia from 15 to 30 September. It was the 22nd edition of the men's Olympic football tournament.

The men's football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held in Athens and four other cities in Greece from 11 to 28 August. The tournament featured 16 men's national teams from the six continental confederations. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four, in which each team would play each of the others once. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage, beginning with the quarter-finals and culminating with the final at Athens' Olympic Stadium on 28 August 2004.

The men's football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in the People's Republic of China from 7 to 23 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to enter their men's under-23 teams in regional qualifying competitions, from which 15 teams, plus the host nation, reached the final tournament. Men's teams were allowed to augment their squads with up to three players over the age of 23.

The men's football tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 22 July to 7 August 2021. Originally, it was to be held from 23 July to 8 August 2020, but the Summer Olympics were postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the official name of the games remains the 2020 Summer Olympics. It was the 27th edition of the men's Olympic football tournament. Together with the women's competition, the 2020 Summer Olympics football tournament was held at six stadiums in six cities in Japan. The final was hosted at the International Stadium in Yokohama. Teams participating in the men's competition were restricted to under-24 players with a maximum of three overage players allowed. The men's tournament is typically restricted to under-23 players though following the postponement of the Olympics by a year, FIFA decided to maintain the restriction of players born on or after 1 January 1997.

Gianluca Pagliuca is an Italian football coach and former professional goalkeeper.

The goalkeeper is a position in association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport. The goalkeeper's main role is to stop the opposing team from scoring. This is accomplished by having the goalkeeper move into the trajectory of the ball to either catch it or direct it further from the vicinity of the goal line. Within the penalty area goalkeepers are allowed to use their hands, giving them the sole rights on the field to handle the ball. The goalkeeper is indicated by wearing a different coloured kit from their teammates and opposition.

Forwards are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on being able to create space for attack.

The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the competition also serves as the UEFA qualification tournament for the Summer Olympics.

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, or simply the 2013 Euro Under-21, was the 19th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Israel from 5–18 June 2013.

Azeglio Vicini was an Italian football coach and player, who also served as the President of the Technical Sector of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

Cesare Maldini was an Italian professional football manager and player who played as a defender.

Marco Tardelli is an Italian former football player and manager. At club level, he played as a midfielder for several Italian clubs; he began his career with Pisa, and later played for Como, Juventus, and Internazionale, before retiring with Swiss club St. Gallen. He enjoyed a highly successful career with Juventus, winning five league titles, as well as multiple Coppa Italia titles, and four major UEFA competitions, becoming one of the first three players ever to win all three major UEFA club competitions, along with Italy and Juventus teammates Antonio Cabrini and Gaetano Scirea.

Claudio Gentile is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s.

Pierluigi Casiraghi is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker.

Ciro Ferrara is an Italian former footballer and manager. His most recent position was as manager of Wuhan Zall. He had also previously coached Juventus and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to Marcello Lippi, he won the 2006 FIFA World Cup with Italy senior team.

Luigi Di Biagio is an Italian professional football manager and former player.

Italy, officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands; its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. Italy shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione, and some islands in the African Plate. Italy covers an area of 301,230 km2 (116,310 sq mi), with a population of about 60 million. It is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area. Italy's capital and largest city is Rome.

Massimo Paganin is an Italian former professional footballer, who played as a defender; he was capable of playing both as a centre-back, as well as in the position of full-back.

Podgorica is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro formed, as the Socialist Republic of Montenegro, part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—in honour of Marshal Josip Broz Tito.

Marko Rakonjac is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Red Star Belgrade on loan from Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow.

Podgorica City Stadium is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Podgorica, Montenegro. Although its seating capacity changed over the years due to several renovations, as of 2019 it has 11,050 seats. The stadium is the home ground of the Montenegrin national football team and Budućnost.

The Luxembourg national under-21 football team is the national representative under-21 football team of Luxembourg. It is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF). The team is the feeder team to the Luxembourg's national team. The team competes in the biennial European Under-21 Championship. Since the establishment of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in 1978 the team has always finished bottom of their qualification group.

Differdange is a commune with town status in south-western Luxembourg, 17 miles (27 km) west from the country's capital. It lies near the borders with Belgium and France and it is located in the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette. With a population of around 26,000, Differdange is the country's third largest city. It is also the main town of the commune, and other towns within the commune include Lasauvage, Niederkorn, Fousbann, and Oberkorn.

Gianluca Gaetano is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a left winger for Serie A club Napoli.

The Italy national football team has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy, which is a co-founder and member of UEFA. Italy's home matches are played at various stadiums throughout Italy, and its primary training ground and technical headquarters, Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, is located in Florence. Italy are the reigning European champions, having won UEFA Euro 2020.

The goalkeeper is a position in association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport. The goalkeeper's main role is to stop the opposing team from scoring. This is accomplished by having the goalkeeper move into the trajectory of the ball to either catch it or direct it further from the vicinity of the goal line. Within the penalty area goalkeepers are allowed to use their hands, giving them the sole rights on the field to handle the ball. The goalkeeper is indicated by wearing a different coloured kit from their teammates and opposition.

The Italian Football Federation, known colloquially as Federcalcio, is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.

Frosinone Calcio is an Italian football club based in Frosinone, Lazio. The club was founded on 5 March 1906 under the name Unione Sportiva Frusinate, but conventionally the year 1928 is indicated as the beginning of competitive activities of significant importance. Following cancellation by the Italian Football Federation, it was refounded in 1959 and in 1990. In the 2014–15 season the club played in Serie B for the sixth time in its history. The club earned its first promotion to the top flight Serie A in the 2015–16 season, but were relegated back down to Serie B after just one season. In the 2018–19 season it was promoted to Serie A for a second time.

Società Sportiva Calcio Bari, commonly referred to as Bari, is an Italian football club based in Bari, Apulia. Bari currently plays in the Serie B. The team finished the 2021–22 season in first place in Serie C and earned promotion to Serie B for the 2022–23 season.

Alessandro Sorrentino is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Monza.

Associazione Calcio Monza is a professional football club that is based in Monza, Lombardy, Italy. The team plays in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football, following promotion in the 2021–22 Serie B season.

Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is the only Italian side to have always competed in the top flight of Italian football since its debut in 1909.

Andrea Pirlo is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his vision, ball control, technique, creativity, passing, and free kick ability.

Francesco Bardi is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian club Bologna.

Daniele Bonera is an Italian retired footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently working as an assistant coach at AC Milan.

Luca Marrone is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for Serie A club Monza.

Alessandro Rosina is an Italian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger.

Luca Caldirola is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Monza. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a left-back.

Alberto Gilardino is an Italian professional football manager and a former player who played as a striker. He is the manager of Serie B club Genoa.

Manolo Gabbiadini is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Sampdoria and the Italy national team.

Gianluca Vialli was an Italian football player and manager who played as a striker. Vialli started his club career at his hometown club Cremonese in 1980, where he made 105 league appearances and scored 23 goals. His performances impressed Sampdoria who signed him in 1984, and with whom he scored 85 league goals, won three Italian cups, Serie A and the European Cup Winners Cup.

Cristiano Lucarelli is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a striker from 1992 until 2012. He is the manager of Serie B club Ternana.

Christian "Bobo" Vieri is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward.

Andrea Belotti is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Roma and the Italy national team.