The Italy Euro 2024 squad will have to improve in the knockout stages if they are to retain the crown they lifted three years ago.
After beating Albania 2-1 in their opening Euro 2024 match, Italy fell 1-0 to Spain in their second after Riccardo Calafiori inadvertently stuck the ball into his own net. That left the European Championship holders in second place in the group heading into their final game with Croatia, needing just a point to secure their spot in the knockout.
Croatia, though, had other ideas, and led through Luka Modric in the 55th minute of the game. Only a 98th minute equaliser from Mattia Zaccagni saved the Azzurri, who would otherwise have been eliminated if things had stayed the same, with their three points and -1 goal difference at the time not enough to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.
Fortunately for Italy, they are through to the last 16, though they face a tough test against Switzerland in Berlin on Saturday. Their opponents were just minutes away from finishing top of Group A themselves by inflicting a huge shock on Germany, and will be tricky customers for Luciano Spalletti's side.
The Italy Euro 2024 squad has plenty of experience to call upon in the knockout stages, though, with Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jorginho and Nicolo Barella all having been here before. Beat Switzerland, and England or Slovakia await in the quarter-finals.
Along with Italy, FourFourTwo will provide all of the latest information on every Euro 2024 squad and how to watch each game.
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Italy Euro 2024 squad
Italy Euro 2024 squad: The full 26-man team
- GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain)
- GK: Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham Hotspur)
- GK: Alex Meret (Napoli)
- DF: Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli)
- DF: Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan)
- DF: Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino)
- DF: Gianluca Mancini (Roma)
- DF: Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan)
- DF: Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna)
- DF: Raoul Bellanova (Torino)
- DF: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan)
- DF: Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus)
- DF: Federico Gatti (Juventus)
- MF: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
- MF: Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan)
- MF: Jorginho (Arsenal)
- MF: Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma)
- MF: Bryan Cristante (Roma)
- MF: Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus)
- MF: Michael Folorunsho (Hellas Verona)
- FW: Mateo Retegui (Genoa)
- FW: Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli)
- FW: Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
- FW: Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta)
- FW: Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio)
- FW: Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma)
Italy Euro 2024 squad numbers
Italy fixtures and results
June 15: Italy 2-1 Albania, Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany
June 20: Spain 1-0 Italy, Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
June 24: Croatia 1-1 Italy, Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany
June 29: Switzerland v Italy, Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany
Italy Euro 2024 top scorers
1 goal: Alessandro Bastoni, Nicolo Barella, Mattia Zaccagni
Italy Euro 2024 yellow cards and suspension
Suspended: Riccardo Calafiori
1 yellow: Nicolo Fagiolo, Bryan Cristante, Lorenzo Pellegrini
Italy manager: Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti has had less than a year to prepare for his first international tournament and only two friendlies in which he could experiment, following a nail-biting end to Italy's qualifying campaign.
The 65 year old masterminded Napoli's stunning Scudetto win of 2022/23, and has always promoted an attacking style of football and won't stop now.
As BBC pundit Cesc Fabregas put it during Italy's victory over Albania: "Since his Roma days, Napoli last year as well, this is what he likes to do: young players, energy, always press forward, and you can see that straight away."
Italy's star player
Nicolo Barella
Nicolo Barella, the all-action midfielder at the heart of Inter's stunning form over the last couple of seasons, is the closest thing Italy have to an outfield star.
There were hopes after Euro 2020 that Federico Chiesa would be the next Azzurri pin-up, but the winger has had a frustrating stint since joining an under-performing Juventus side in 2022.
Barella, however, is in good nick, as he proved with his somewhat speculative but successful strike to give Italy the lead against Albania. Strangely, he scores about twice as often for his country as he has at club level - but he is prone to going through occasional purple patches in front of goal.
