Stadio Olimpico hosts a pinnacle of European football as Italy and Belgium renew hostilities in their latest 2024/25 UEFA Nations League outing. Thursday’s clash in the Italian capital is a decent opportunity for Gli Azzurri to consolidate their return to prominence following a lackluster EURO 2024 campaign.
Despite their underwhelming last-16 exit in the summer tournament, Italy showed glimpses of their potential in the early Nations League exchanges. Luciano Spalletti’s side navigated the sternest away challenge UEFA has to offer, according to FIFA’s rankings, beating France 3-1 on their opening Group A2 travel.
Following an emphatic comeback in Paris, Italy relied on Davide Frattesi and Moise Kean to see off Israel in their second group fixture, entering round three as one of only three nations with a 100% record in this Nations League campaign. However, the two-time European champions would be naive to underestimate the threat lying ahead.
Belgium’s golden generation has never fulfilled its potential, and with their cornerstones well past their prime, head coach Domenico Tedesco has to pick up the slack. After another disappointing result at a major international tournament, De Rode Duivels recovered with a comprehensive 3-1 home win against Israel.
That optimism was short-lived as France gave the Belgians a harsh reality check last time out, overcoming them 2-0 in Lyon. A wasteful attacking performance at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais was the architect of Belgium’s downfall on French soil, confirming their notorious struggles against Europe’s finest.
After yet another upset, Tedesco will probably expect a response from his team in Rome.
Match Preview
Italy
Brimming with confidence following a dream Nations League start, Italy should meet Belgium in a buoyant mood, looking to uphold their stellar run of form in this competition. Back-to-back triumphs at the beginning of the 2024/25 campaign have solidified their recent Nations League record, making it five wins in their last six matches in this tournament (L1).
The Italians boast an identical record from their last six encounters against Belgium (W5, L1), adding to Spalletti’s belief that his team could stay on the upward trajectory. But the Scudetto-winning manager knows better than to let historical stats tuck him into a false sense of security after overseeing no clean sheet across the last six games.
As such, Italy’s free-firing frontline will likely have to shoulder much of the burden on Thursday evening, with Gli Azzurri bidding to strengthen their quest to book a third successive finals appearance.
Belgium
In contrast to Italy’s traditionally eye-catching Nations League exploits, Belgium’s record in this competition is anything but glittering. They only won half of their six fixtures in the previous campaign (W3, D1, L2) before registering partial success across their opening two matches this term.
The abovementioned defeat against France maintained Belgium’s ominous run against FIFA’s best-ranked teams. They’ve failed to beat a top-ten-ranked nation since June 2021, while a 2-0 victory against England in November 2020 remains their only win against such opposition in the Nations League.
With only two of Belgium’s last 12 internationals seeing both teams on the scoresheet, it stands to reason that the team to open the scoring would likely take three points. Tedesco’s men will unlikely beat Italy to the punch, considering they’ve drawn a blank in three of their last four internationals.
Team News
Spalletti has handed maiden international call-ups to six Serie A stars for the upcoming matches against Belgium and Israel. Michele Di Gregorio, Caleb Okoli, Matteo Gabbia, Niccolo Pisilli, Daniel Maldini, and Lorenzo Lucca are the new faces in this exciting-looking Italy squad.
All eyes will be on Atalanta heavy-hitter Mateo Retegui, who bagged his first Serie A hat-trick at the weekend to become the league’s joint-top goalscorer with seven goals.
On the other hand, Belgium will be without long-serving stalwarts Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. Napoli winger Cyril Ngonge could make his first international cap despite his troubled start to the season under new manager Antonio Conte.
With their two standout performers out, the visitors will turn to Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard. The 29-year-old forward is Belgium’s joint-top scorer in the current crop alongside Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans.
Italy vs Belgium Potential Line-ups
Italy (3-5-1-1): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori; Federico Dimarco, Samuele Ricci, Sandro Tonali, Davide Frattesi, Raoul Bellanova; Lorenzo Pellegrini; Mateo Retegui.
Belgium (4-2-3-1): Matz Sels; Timothy Castage, Wout Faes, Arthur Theate, Zeno Debast; Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana; Jeremy Doku, Leandro Trossard, Dodi Lukebakio; Lois Openda.
Italy vs Belgium Prediction
Italy and Belgium last met in international football in October 2021 in this competition. Gli Azzurri scored twice in the first 20 minutes of the second half en route to a 2-1 triumph, a scoreline we expect could also determine Thursday’s showdown.
Spalletti’s lads have momentum, not to mention an intimidating home support. The Belgians are struggling, and it’s hard to back them for success at the Olimpico. Instead, we can envisage a tight win for the home team.
Prediction: Italy to Win
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