We’re not in the World Cup, but we’re not without a future. Changes in the national team

Watching a World Cup without Italy is an experience with which Italian football fans are now all too familiar: initially they declare they will not watch it, then they do watch it, then they support an Italian manager working abroad, then they search for a distant relative in every national team, then they become frustrated, and then they conclude that Italian football is finished. However, this time we might adopt a different perspective. We should neither deny the challenges faced by the senior national team, nor transform our absence from the tournament into a badge of honour; such attitudes would merely be masochism masquerading as philosophy. Instead, we can use the World Cup to examine Italy from a fresh angle: not through the lens of what is absent, but of what is growing.

Over the past twelve months, in fact, Italy’s youth national teams have put together a run of results that, whilst not warranting euphoria, do warrant something rarer in Italian football: reasoned confidence. The most striking achievement is the Under-17 European Championship won by Daniele Franceschini’s Italy in Tallinn against Belgium, on penalties, after a final that came to life in the closing stages, played with the determination of those who have not yet learnt the very Italian art of self-defeating pessimism. And this is no isolated incident: it is the second Under-17 European title in three years. In a country that often discusses young players only to explain that they are absent, that they do not see the pitch, that they do not develop, that they cannot cope, that they lack opportunities, that they lack determination, or that they have no future, this achievement deserves at least a modicum of attention. It does not suggest that Italy has become Brazil again, but it does indicate that the nation may not have devolved into a nostalgic version of San Marino.

The Under-17s’ campaign is significant because it tells a story that goes beyond the result. A win against France, a 3–0 victory over Montenegro, top of the group, a semi-final win against Spain on penalties, and a final win against Belgium. In other words, not a flash in the pan, not a fluke, not a romantic, once-in-a-lifetime night, but a tournament played through with consistency, character and a technical quality that is often deemed to be lacking in the Italian public narrative. Youth football, when it functions effectively, does not merely produce trophies: it instils a habit of international competition. This is perhaps what the senior national team has lacked most in recent years: not talent in the abstract, but familiarity with matches where it is not enough to be likeable, noble, steeped in history, four-time world champions and deeply offended by reality.

Then there is the men’s Under-19 team, which has qualified for the final stages of the 2026 European Championship. Here too, the result should be taken for what it is: not a title, not a guarantee, not a certificate of revival, but another sign. Italy is amongst the best, playing proper matches and testing its young players against peers who have come through the most competitive youth academies in Europe. And when a youth system produces multiple squads competing in continental finals, it means that at least some of the work – carried out by clubs, the federation and coaches – is not as derelict as is often portrayed in the great national narrative of ‘no new talent is emerging’.

Even the Under-21s, despite not yet having completed their journey towards the 2027 European Championship, are producing some impressive statistics: seven wins in their first eight qualifying matches, twenty-five goals scored, and a campaign that remains wide open and competitive in a tricky group. Here, we must avoid the mistake that is the opposite of melancholy: mistaking a successful qualifying campaign for destiny. But it is clear that an Under-21 side capable of winning almost every time, scoring plenty of goals and keeping pace with the best sends a simple message: there is no shortage of talent. What is lacking, if anything, is more fluid passing, courage from the clubs, genuine playing time, consistency and confidence. Italian talent has not disappeared: all too often it remains sidelined, protected, loaned out, put on hold, explained away, justified, and managed as if it were a fragile object rather than an athlete to be exposed to the rigours of life.

The women’s Under-19 team should also be included in this picture: they reached the semi-finals of the 2025 European Championship and have qualified for the 2026 Under-20 World Cup. This is a significant sign because it tells the story of another side of Italian football – one that is less often discussed, less celebrated, but increasingly well-organised. Reaching the top four in Europe after challenging years, securing a place at the World Cup, and competing against very strong teams demonstrates that the growth of women’s football is not merely a slogan at a football association conference: it is a process that is beginning to show in the results.

Of course, none of this answers the main question: why do successes at youth level not automatically translate into successes for the senior national team? That is the crux of the matter. The Azzurrini prove that Italy is not without a future. The senior system shows that it often fails to capitalise on that future. Between an Under-17 cup and a missed World Cup qualification lies a middle ground made up of reserve teams, youth academies, the courage of coaches, the transfer market, agents, the fear of making mistakes, club chairmen demanding immediate results, and fans who want young players – provided they gain experience elsewhere.

So the right way for us Italians to view the World Cup is not to say ‘we’re finished’ or even ‘everything’s fine’. The right way is to say: the tank isn’t empty, but the car often won’t start. The youth international teams are reminding us that Italian football still produces young players capable of winning in Europe, of going all the way, of withstanding the pressure, of scoring, of taking penalties, and of keeping their nerve. Now it is up to senior football to stop viewing them as eternal prospects and start treating them as a current asset. A World Cup without Italy remains a wound. But beneath the wound, at least, there’s still a bit of life left.