In just under two months the Under 21 National Team will begin the new biennial period of fixtures. After the disappointment of elimination from the European Championship in the quarter-finals at the hands of Portugal, the journey will resume with the qualifiers for Euro 2023, when the Azzurrini face Luxembourg and Montenegro. The “Carlo Castellani” stadium in Empoli and the “Romeo Menti” in Vicenza will host the two matches, which are scheduled for 3 September and 7 September. Both matches will be played at 17.30 CEST.

The Azzurrini will return to Empoli for the first time in ten years, with the last match played there occurring on 8 February 2011 in a 1-0 friendly win against England. The Under 21s have played six matches in Vicenza, with five of them being qualifiers for the European Championship and one, the most recent, being a friendly match with Tunisia on 15 October 2018.

While there has been only one previous match against Montenegro - a friendly match won by Italy on 4 June 2014 - there have been twelve matches against Luxembourg, all in favour of the Azzurrini who have recorded twelve victories.