🔎🇮🇹 Italy at EURO 2025: Finally time for another semi-final? | OneFootball

Italy begin their Women's EURO 2025 campaign with a game against Belgium on Thursday. Here's what you need to know about Le Azzurre this summer ...

📚 What's the story?

📸 MARTY MELVILLE - AFP or licensors

Italy were close to success in the early days of the Women's EURO, competing as one of only four teams in 1984, 1987, 1989 and 1991 before finishing as runners-up in 1993 and 1997.

Things have been trickier since then, though, and exited at the group stage in the last two tournaments as well as the 2023 World Cup. They boast an experienced squad and have shown improvement over the last two years, now's the time to put that progress to the test.

⭐️ Star player

📸 Emmanuele Ciancaglini - 2024 Getty Images

The old stereotypes of Italian football — the defensive solidity of catenaccio — has given way to a more possession-based game in recent times, with the emergence of some truly elegant playmakers.

Manuela Giugliano is a player cut from that cloth. A holding midfielder, the Roma star can dictate games, playing short and slow out from the back as well as finding a killer pass. She's fantastic with a dead ball too. Italy's play will go through her.

👀 One to watch

Emma Severini has won just 10 caps and had made just two starts for her country — one against Morocco in a friendly in 2023, the other in a friendly against Malta last October — until April. The 21-year-old midfielder played 90 minutes in each of Italy's last four games.

A good dribbler with an eye for a pass and a nose for goal, Severini impressed at Fiorentina last season and looks set to become a mainstay in the heart of the Italy side for years to come.

Likely 1️⃣1️⃣

(4-3-3): Giuliani; Di Guglielmo, Lenzini, Linari, Boattin; Caruso, Giugliano, Severini; Cantore, Piemonte, Bonansea

Can they win it? 🏆

In all honesty, probably not.

But if they can get through a tricky group — not having to play Spain until the final matchday could be handy — then they will not have one of the favourites for the tournament in the quarter-final, so a slightly surprising spot in the semis doesn't seem off the cards.

📸 Emmanuele Ciancaglini - 2024 Getty Images