sport.wikisort.org - Team

Italy

Nickname(s)	Le Azzurre (The Blues)
Association	Italian Football Federation (FIGC)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Milena Bertolini
Captain	Sara Gama
Most caps	Patrizia Panico (196)
Top scorer	Patrizia Panico Elisabetta Vignotto (107)
Home stadium	Various
FIFA code	ITA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	14 1 (13 October 2022)[1]
Highest	10 (July 2003)
Lowest	19 (March 2017)
First international
Italy 2–1 Czechoslovakia  (Viareggio, Italy, 23 February 1968)
Biggest win
Italy 15–0 Macedonia  (Vercelli, Italy, 17 September 2014)
Biggest defeat
Denmark 6–0 Italy  (Ringsted, Denmark, 16 May 1982)  Italy 0–6 Switzerland  (Larnaca, Cyprus, 6 March 2017)
World Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1991)
Best result	Quarter-finals (1991, 2019)
European Championship
Appearances	12 (first in 1984)
Best result	Runners-up (1993, 1997)

The Italy women's national football team (Italian: Nazionale di calcio femminile dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international women's football since their inception in 1968. The team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy.

Formed in 1968, Italy took part in various unofficial international tournaments, hosting the first unofficial European Competition in 1969 and World Cup in 1970. Italy qualified for both the first World Cup in 1991, where they reached the quarter-finals, and the first European Championship. While Italy were runners-up in the European Championship in 1993 and 1997, they are yet to replicate similar success at the World Cup. In 2019, after a 20-year drought, Italy qualified for the World Cup where they equaled their previous best performance, reaching the quarter-finals.

History

1968–1984: Early history and unofficial tournaments

The women's national team played its first game on 23 February 1968, in Viareggio against Czechoslovakia. However, the national team was not yet part of the Italian Women's Football Federation, which was founded on 11 March in Viareggio. From the beginning, they took part in various continental and international tournaments in Europe and in the world, also achieving good successes. With the birth of the European Competition for Women's Football (1984), organized by UEFA, and later the Women's World Cup, organized by FIFA, the highest international women's competitions became equivalent to the men's competitions.

After its debut in 1968, the Italy national team took to the field to compete in other non-official international friendlies and tournaments, such as the European Competition in 1969 that saw it win the final over Denmark,[2] the World Cup in 1970 that saw it lose the final against the aforementioned Danish national team,[3] competitions both organized in Italy, and the Mundial in Mexico in 1971 where they achieved third place.[4] In 1979, Italy hosted, and participated in the unofficial European Competition, reaching the final again, which took place at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples, and in which Denmark triumphed again.[5] Between 1981 and 1988 there were five editions of the Mundialito, an international invitation-only tournament, one of the most prestigious events in the women's football scene before the advent of the World Cup. Apart from the first edition in 1981 that was organized in Japan, the next four were organized in Italy, where the Italy national team obtained three victories and two second places overall.[6] The triumphs arrived in 1981, winning the group, in 1984 overcoming West Germany in the final and in 1984 overcoming the United States in the final, while in the other two editions it lost the final against England.

1984–1991: First World Cup and European Championship

In 1984, UEFA organized the first European Competition. Italy won Group 3 of the qualifiers, being one of four teams to qualify for the final round.[7] Italy faced Sweden, being defeated both in the first leg, played at the Flaminio Stadium in Rome in front of 10,000 spectators, and in the return match in Linköping.[7] In 1987, Italy again gained access to the European Competition, winning Group 4 of the qualifiers. In the final stage organized in Norway, Italy were defeated in the semi-final against the host nation, but achieved third place by defeating England, with goals by Carolina Morace and Elisabetta Vignotto.[8] Italy were also confirmed in the 1989 edition, having passed the qualifying phase with a play-off win against France. Italy finished fourth in the tournament, having lost the semi-final against West Germany after a penalty shoot-out, as well as in the third place match against Sweden after extra time.[9]

In the 1991 European Championship, Italy was once again admitted to the four-team finals, after having won the qualifying play-off against the Sweden.[10] In the final tournament, Italy repeated what had happened two years before, losing both the semi-final against the German hosts and the final for third place against Denmark, although even with the fourth-place finish, gained access to the first edition of the World Cup organized by FIFA in the same year.[10] The world championship was organized in China, as Italy was drawn into Group 3 together with Germany, Chinese Taipei and Nigeria.[11] Italy ended the group in second place with two victories against Taipei and Nigeria and a defeat against Germany; all four goals for the team came from Carolina Morace. Italy advanced to the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by Norway 3–2 after extra time.[11]

1993–1999: Twice European Championship runners-up

The 1993 European Championship was hosted in Italy.[12] After defeating England in the final play-off match, Italy overcame Germany in the semi-finals after a penalty shoot-out. In the final, played at the Manuzzi Stadium in Cesena, Italy was defeated 1–0 by Norway.[12] Norway also denied Italy a place at the 1995 European Championship, with a 7–3 aggregate loss in the qualifying play-offs. Consequently, Italy also didn't qualify for the 1995 World Cup.

Italy participated in the 1997 European Championship, with the number of teams participating in the competition increasing from four to eight. In Group B, Italy defeated Norway and drew against Denmark and Germany, still achieving first in the group advancing to the knockout stage.[13] In the semi-final Italy beat Spain 2–1, but in the final, were defeated 2–0 by Germany.[13] In 1998, Italy qualified for the World Championship for the second time. The 1999 edition took place in the United States, with Italy being drawn in Group B along with Brazil, Germany and Mexico. After a 1–1 draw against Germany in the debut match, Italy lost 2–0 to Brazil, and ended the group with a 2–0 victory over Mexico; Italy finishing third in the group and were eliminated.[14]

2000–2011: Decline

With the beginning of the 2000s, a decline in the performance of the Italy national team began. At the 2001 European Championship, Italy, coached by Carolina Morace, were eliminated in the group stage due to a worse goal difference compared to Norway.[15]

Four years later, at the 2005 European Championship, Italy finished last in its group with zero points, losing all three of their matches against Germany, Norway and France, conceding twelve goals overall.[16] Redemption came in the 2009 edition, with Italy defeating both England and Russia, advancing to the knock-out stage as second-placed in the group behind Sweden who had defeated them. In the quarter-finals, Italy faced Germany, where they lost 2–1; Germany would ultimately win their seventh continental title.[17]

Having failed to qualify for the 2003 and 2007 editions of the World Cup, Italy also failed to qualify for the 2011 edition in the intercontinental two-legged play-off between UEFA and CONCACAF. The United States won the first leg 1–0 in Padua with a goal by Alex Morgan in the fourth minute of added time, while they also won the second leg by a score of 1–0 in Bridgeview with a goal by Amy Rodriguez in the first half.[18]

2011–2017: Slim World Cup qualification miss

Italy qualified for the 2013 European Championship in Sweden by winning the qualifying group with nine victories out of ten matches. At the tournament, Italy was drawn in Group A with hosts Sweden, Denmark and Finland. With one win, one draw and one defeat, Italy advanced from the group stage to the quarter-finals in second place, but were defeated 1–0 by Germany.[19]

In the following two years, Italy, led by Antonio Cabrini, was involved in the qualification for the 2015 World Championship: despite eight victories out of ten games, including two record victories against Macedonia (11–0 and 15–0),[20] they finished in second place in Group 2 behind Spain, sending Italy to the play-offs. In the first round of the play-offs, Italy defeated Ukraine 4–3 on aggregate, but were defeated by the Netherlands 3–2 on aggregate in the final round of the play-offs.

Italy qualified for the 2017 European Championship second in its group behind Switzerland. At the European Championship, Italy finished in last place in Group B behind Germany, Sweden and Russia, despite the victory in the third game against Sweden.[21]

2017–present: First World Cup qualification in 20 years

On 8 June 2018, twenty years since their last participation, Italy qualified for the 2019 FIFA World Cup, winning its qualifying group with a game in hand.[22] In the group stage of the tournament, Italy won Group C, recording two victories against Australia (2–1) and Jamaica (5–0), which guaranteed advancement to the knockout stage, with Italy's defeat to Brazil (0–1) irrelevant to the final table. In the round of 16, Italy won 2–0 over China, advancing to the quarter-finals for the second time in their history.[23] However, with a 2–0 defeat to European Champions the Netherlands, Italy's World Cup journey came to an end on 29 June 2019.[24] The following year, Italy advanced to the final of the 2020 Algarve Cup (and the first Algarve Cup final of their history) but Italy had to withdraw the match due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and Germany were declared as winners.[25] In the 2022 Algarve Cup, Italy managed to reach the final again but lost against Sweden 6–5 at the penalty shoot-outs after the 1–1 draw after the extra-time.[26]

However, Italy failed to produce the same form in the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, finishing bottom with only one point and one goal scored, though much blames were taken for the Serie A having not gone professional until the end of the tournament. After that failure, Italy qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup by winning two games against Moldova and Romania with the team now fully recognised professional, finishing top of the group in the qualifiers, ahead of Switzerland, which was rather an irony after the men's team fell victim to the same Swiss opponents in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2021

2022

2023

Managerial history

Year(s)	Manager
1969–1971	Giuseppe Cavicchi [it]
1972–1978	Amedeo Amadei
1979–1981	Sergio Guenza
1981–1982	Paolo Todeschini
1982–1984	Enzo Benedetti
1984–1989	Ettore Recagni [it]
1989–1993	Sergio Guenza
1993–1995	Comunardo Niccolai
1995–1997	Sergio Guenza
1997–1998	Sergio Vatta
1999	Carlo Facchin
1999–2000	Ettore Recagni [it]
2000–2005	Carolina Morace
2005–2012	Pietro Ghedin
2012–2017	Antonio Cabrini
2017–present	Milena Bertolini

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the against Romania on 6 September 2022.
Caps, goals and player numbers are correct as of 12 April 2022^[update], after the match against Switzerland.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Laura Giuliani	(1993-06-06) 6 June 1993 (age 29)	48	0	Milan
12	1GK	Katja Schroffenegger	(1991-04-28) 28 April 1991 (age 31)	12	0	Fiorentina
22	1GK	Roberta Aprile	(2000-11-22) 22 November 2000 (age 21)	0	0	Juventus
2	2DF	Angelica Soffia	(2000-07-02) 2 July 2000 (age 22)	3	2	Milan
3	2DF	Alice Tortelli	(1998-01-22) 22 January 1998 (age 24)	2	0	Fiorentina
13	2DF	Elisa Bartoli	(1991-05-07) 7 May 1991 (age 31)	66	3	Roma
15	2DF	Maria Luisa Filangeri	(2000-01-28) 28 January 2000 (age 22)	4	0	Sassuolo
16	2DF	Lucia Di Guglielmo	(1997-06-26) 26 June 1997 (age 25)	2	0	Roma
17	2DF	Lisa Boattin	(1997-05-03) 3 May 1997 (age 25)	34	0	Juventus
23	2DF	Martina Lenzini	(1998-07-23) 23 July 1998 (age 24)	1	0	Juventus
4	3MF	Aurora Galli	(1996-12-13) 13 December 1996 (age 25)	38	4	Everton
6	3MF	Manuela Giugliano	(1997-08-18) 18 August 1997 (age 25)	35	3	Roma
7	3MF	Flaminia Simonetti	(1997-02-17) 17 February 1997 (age 25)	6	0	Inter Milan
8	3MF	Martina Rosucci	(1992-05-09) 9 May 1992 (age 30)	59	4	Juventus
18	3MF	Arianna Caruso	(1999-11-06) 6 November 1999 (age 23)	5	0	Juventus
21	3MF	Giada Greggi	(2000-02-18) 18 February 2000 (age 22)	3	1	Roma
5	4FW	Michela Catena	(1999-12-17) 17 December 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Fiorentina
9	4FW	Valentina Giacinti	(1994-01-02) 2 January 1994 (age 28)	41	12	Milan
10	4FW	Cristiana Girelli	(1990-04-23) 23 April 1990 (age 32)	78	46	Juventus
11	4FW	Sofia Cantore	(1999-09-30) 30 September 1999 (age 23)	3	0	Juventus
14	4FW	Agnese Bonfantini	(1999-07-04) 4 July 1999 (age 23)	8	0	Juventus
19	4FW	Benedetta Glionna	(1999-07-26) 26 July 1999 (age 23)	10	0	Roma
20	4FW	Martina Piemonte	(1997-11-07) 7 November 1997 (age 25)	6	1	Milan

Recent call ups

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Francesca Durante	(1997-02-12) 12 February 1997 (age 25)	1	0	Inter Milan	v.  Belgium, 18 July 2022
DF	Sara Gama	(1989-03-27) 27 March 1989 (age 33)	126	5	Juventus	v.  Belgium, 18 July 2022
DF	Elena Linari	(1994-04-15) 15 April 1994 (age 28)	45	3	Roma	v.  Belgium, 18 July 2022
DF	Valentina Bergamaschi	(1997-01-22) 22 January 1997 (age 25)	25	4	Milan	v.  Belgium, 18 July 2022
DF	Alia Guagni	(1987-10-01) 1 October 1987 (age 35)	74	5	Milan	v.  Norway, 20 February 2022
DF	Cecilia Salvai	(1993-12-02) 2 December 1993 (age 28)	36	2	Juventus	v.  Romania, 30 November 2021
DF	Beatrice Merlo	(1999-02-23) 23 February 1999 (age 23)	2	0	Inter Milan	v.  Romania, 30 November 2021
MF	Valentina Cernoia	(1991-06-22) 22 June 1991 (age 31)	61	13	Juventus	v.  Belgium, 18 July 2022
MF	Annamaria Serturini	(1998-05-13) 13 May 1998 (age 24)	13	1	Roma	v.  Switzerland, 12 April 2022
MF	Norma Cinotti	(1996-09-11) 11 September 1996 (age 26)	1	0	Roma	v.  Romania, 30 November 2021
MF	Marta Pandini	(1998-03-21) 21 March 1998 (age 24)	1	0	Inter Milan	v.  Romania, 30 November 2021
FW	Barbara Bonansea	(1991-06-13) 13 June 1991 (age 31)	69	26	Juventus	v.  Belgium, 18 July 2022
FW	Daniela Sabatino	(1985-06-26) 26 June 1985 (age 37)	50	30	Fiorentina	v.  Belgium, 18 July 2022
FW	Valeria Pirone	(1988-12-03) 3 December 1988 (age 33)	7	3	Roma	v.  Romania, 30 November 2021

Competitive record

Competition				Total
FIFA Women's World Cup	0	0	0	0
Olympic Games	0	0	0	0
UEFA Women's Championship	0	2	1	3
Mediterranean Games	0	0	0	0
Universiade	0	0	0	0
Total	0	2	1	3

FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1991	Quarter-finals	6th of 12	4	2	0	2	8	5		UEFA Euro 1991
1995	Did not qualify									UEFA Euro 1995
1999	Group stage	9th of 16	3	1	1	1	3	3		6	5	1	0	11	4
2003	Did not qualify									6	2	1	3	7	7
2007										8	5	0	3	25	6
2011										16	10	3	3	48	10
2015										14	9	3	2	54	11
2019	Quarter-finals	7th of 24	5	3	0	2	9	4		8	7	0	1	19	4
2023	Qualified									10	9	0	1	40	2
Total	Best: Quarter-finals	4/9	12	6	1	5	20	12		68	47	8	13	204	44
* Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA Women's Championship

UEFA Women's Championship record										Qualifying record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1984	Semi-finals	4th of 4	2	0	0	2	3	5		6	5	0	1	12	1
1987	Third place	3rd of 4	2	1	0	1	2	3		6	5	1	0	13	6
1989	Fourth place	4th of 4	2	0	1	1	2	3		8	5	2	1	20	5
1991	Fourth place	4th of 4	2	0	0	2	1	5		8	3	4	1	13	5
1993	Runners-up	2nd of 4	2	0	1	1	1	2		6	5	1	0	18	6
1995	Did not qualify									8	4	1	3	18	11
1997	Runners-up	2nd of 8	5	2	2	1	7	6		6	4	2	0	16	3
2001	Group stage	5th of 8	3	1	1	1	3	4		8	3	3	2	9	8
2005		8th of 8	3	0	0	3	4	12		10	6	3	1	20	10
2009	Quarter-finals	6th of 8	4	2	0	2	5	5		10	8	0	2	26	8
2013		7th of 8	4	1	1	2	3	5		10	9	1	0	35	0
2017	Group stage	12th of 16	3	1	0	2	5	6		8	6	0	2	26	8
2022		13th of 16	3	0	1	2	2	7		10	8	1	1	37	5
Total	Best: Runners-up	12/13	35	8	7	20	38	63		104	71	19	14	263	76
* Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

All-time records

Head-to-head record

Key

The following table shows Italy's all-time official international record per opponent:

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W%	Confederation
Argentina	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00	CONMEBOL
Armenia	2	2	0	0	15	0	+15	100.00	UEFA
Australia	9	4	2	3	16	14	+2	44.44	AFC
Austria	4	3	1	0	17	1	+16	75.00	UEFA
Belgium	9	6	1	2	20	10	+10	66.67	UEFA
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00	UEFA
Brazil	7	0	1	6	7	19	−12	0.00	CONMEBOL
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00	UEFA
Canada	10	3	1	6	13	14	−1	33.33	CONCACAF
Chile	3	3	0	0	11	3	+8	100.00	CONMEBOL
China	8	3	2	3	8	8	0	37.50	AFC
Chinese Taipei	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00	AFC
Costa Rica	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00	CONCACAF
Croatia	2	1	1	0	7	0	+7	50.00	UEFA
Czech Republic	10	10	0	0	32	7	+25	100.00	UEFA
Czechoslovakia	11	6	4	1	19	10	+9	54.54	UEFA
Denmark	24	5	7	12	24	44	−20	20.83	UEFA
England	33	17	7	9	62	41	+19	51.52	UEFA
Estonia	2	2	0	0	9	1	+8	100.00	UEFA
Finland	12	5	6	1	17	12	+5	41.67	UEFA
France	26	14	6	6	40	30	+10	53.85	UEFA
Georgia	2	2	0	0	13	1	+12	100.00	UEFA
Germany	28	5	8	15	22	49	−27	17.86	UEFA
Greece	8	7	1	0	29	2	+27	87.50	UEFA
Hungary	12	10	1	1	25	6	+19	83.33	UEFA
Iceland	5	2	3	0	5	3	+2	40.00	UEFA
Iran	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7	100.00	AFC
Jamaica	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00	CONCACAF
Japan	8	7	0	1	34	6	+28	87.50	AFC
Macedonia	4	4	0	0	44	0	+44	100.00	UEFA
Mexico	8	4	2	2	23	11	+12	50.00	CONCACAF
Moldova	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	100.00	UEFA
Netherlands	17	8	5	4	30	17	+13	47.06	UEFA
New Zealand	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3	0.00	OFC
Nigeria	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00	CAF
North Korea	2	0	1	1	3	6	−3	0.00	AFC
Northern Ireland	3	3	0	0	10	1	+9	100.00	UEFA
Norway	16	2	1	13	20	41	−21	12.50	UEFA
Poland	7	6	1	0	22	4	+18	85.71	UEFA
Portugal	15	12	0	3	33	8	+25	80.00	UEFA
Republic of Ireland	7	6	1	0	16	5	+11	85.71	UEFA
Romania	6	6	0	0	18	2	+16	100.00	UEFA
Russia	9	4	0	5	13	10	+3	44.44	UEFA
Scotland	19	14	2	3	51	16	+35	73.68	UEFA
Serbia	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00	UEFA
Serbia and Montenegro	3	3	0	0	15	1	+14	100.00	UEFA
Slovakia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00	UEFA
Slovenia	2	2	0	0	14	0	+14	100.00	UEFA
South Korea	3	3	0	0	5	2	+3	100.00	AFC
Spain	16	11	3	2	44	13	+31	68.75	UEFA
Soviet Union	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00	UEFA
Sweden	22	3	4	15	14	41	−27	13.64	UEFA
Switzerland	27	21	2	4	61	22	+39	77.78	UEFA
Thailand	3	3	0	0	11	2	+9	100.00	AFC
Ukraine	8	4	3	1	12	6	+6	50.00	UEFA
United States	16	4	2	10	9	29	−20	25.00	CONCACAF
Wales	3	3	0	0	12	0	+12	100.00	UEFA
Yugoslavia	11	10	0	1	38	4	+34	90.91	UEFA
Total	479	268	79	132	1012	528	+482	55.95	—

Last updated: Italy vs Netherlands, 29 June 2019. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.[27]

FIFA rankings

Below is a chart of Italy's FIFA ranking from 2003 to the present.[28]

Top scorers

#	Player	Period	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Elisabetta Vignotto	1970–1989	97	95	1.02
2	Carolina Morace	1978–1997	95	136	0.7
3	Cristiana Girelli	2011–	36	67	0.54
4	Patrizia Panico	1996–2014	35	83	0.42
5	Antonella Carta	1984–1999	30	110	0.27
6	Ida Golin	1976–1987	29	41	0.71
7	Melania Gabbiadini	2011–2017	26	56	0.46
8	Daniela Sabatino	2011–	25	61	0.41
9	Barbara Bonansea	2012–	23	63	0.37
10	Giuditta Schiavo	1970–1976	19	29	0.66

As of 7 March 2020^[update].[27] Highlighted names denote a player still playing or available for selection.

See also

• Italy women's national under-23 football team
• Italy women's national under-20 football team
• Italy women's national under-17 football team
• Italy national football team
• Serie A (women's football)
• Sport in Italy

Notes

References

External links

• Official website (in English and Italian)
• FIFA profile

На других языках

---

- [en] Italy women's national football team

---

[ru] Женская сборная Италии по футболу

Женская национальная сборная Италии по футболу (итал. Nazionale di calcio femminile dell'Italia) представляет Италию на международной арене женского футбола. Команда контролируется Итальянской федерацией футбола.

---

---