Big Match Feature: Belgium v Italy

FORM GUIDE (most recent first)

Belgium: WWWWWD

Italy: WWWWWW

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MATCH BACKGROUND

Italy and Belgium meet in the second UEFA EURO 2020 quarter-final chasing a place in EURO history. With bothteams having won their last 14 UEFA European Championship matches, the victors at the Football Arena Munich willset a new competition record, a mark they both currently share with Germany.

While Italy have won 14 of the sides' 22 contests, including group games at UEFA EURO 2000 and 2016, Belgiumprevailed in the teams' only previous EURO quarter-final, in 1972 when they ultimately finished third.

Both sides won their section with maximum points at UEFA EURO 2020, Italy finishing first in Group A and Belgiumcoming top of Group B, before hard-fought wins in the round of 16. Italy needed extra time to see off Austria 2-1 atWembley on 26 June; Belgium edged past holders Portugal 1-0 in Seville the following day.

Both teams were knocked out in the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2016.

The winners of this tie will play Switzerland or Spain in the semi-finals at Wembley on 6 July.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Belgium's record in 22 meetings with Italy is W4 D4 L14; W1 D2 L3 in competitive games.

The sides' most recent meeting came in the UEFA EURO 2016 group stage, goals from Emanuele Giaccherini (32)and Graziano Pellè (90+3) giving Antonio Conte's Italy a 2-0 Matchday 1 win in Lyon against a Belgium side coachedby Marc Wilmots. That helped the Azzurri finish top of Group E, level on six points with runners-up Belgium, who alsoprogressed. Ten members of Belgium's UEFA EURO 2020 squad played in that encounter as opposed to just threefrom Italy's.

That was the nations' third meeting at the EURO final tournament, a goalless draw in Turin in 1980 enabling Belgiumto reach the final at the hosts' expense. Twenty years later Italy helped to eliminate the UEFA EURO 2000 co-hosts inthe group stage with a 2-0 victory in Brussels, Francesco Totti and Stefano Fiore scoring.

The nations' last friendly – and first since May 2008 – took place in November 2015, Belgium coming from behind todefeat Italy 3-1 in Brussels. Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne and Michy Batshuayi scored for the hosts in reply toAntonio Candreva's early strike.

Belgium's sole competitive triumph against Italy came in the quarter-finals of the 1972 UEFA EuropeanChampionship. They prevailed 2-1 in Brussels after a goalless draw in Milan to eliminate the holders.

EURO facts: Belgium

This is Belgium's second successive UEFA European Championship final tournament and their sixth EURO in total.

The Red Devils' biggest achievement to date was reaching the final of this tournament in 1980, when they lost 2-1 toWest Germany in Rome.

In 2016, Belgium's first EURO finals since they co-hosted UEFA EURO 2000 with the Netherlands, a team coachedby Wilmots finished second in Group E and beat Hungary 4-0 in the round of 16 – their biggest EURO finals victory –only to suffer a 3-1 quarter-final defeat by Wales.

This time round, Roberto Martínez's side won all ten of their qualifiers to finish first in Group I, increasing thenumber of countries to have reached the finals with a perfect record to eight, Italy also having achieved the feat in theUEFA EURO 2020 preliminaries. Of the previous six to have won every qualifier, however, only Spain (2012) went onto win the tournament itself.

The 9-0 win against San Marino on 10 October 2019 is Belgium's biggest UEFA European Championship victory.

Belgium were the top scorers in qualifying overall with 40 goals in their ten matches. Fifteen different Belgiumplayers found the net in qualifying.

The Red Devils conceded only three goals, the joint best record along with Turkey.

Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne both provided seven assists in qualifying, fewer only than the Netherlands'Memphis Depay (eight). Hazard scored five goals to De Bruyne's four; Romelu Lukaku managed seven goals and fourassists.

Belgium have extended their winning run in the competition to 14 at the final tournament. They beat Russia (3-0) andFinland (2-0) in Saint Petersburg either side of a 2-1 comeback victory against Denmark in Copenhagen to finish sixpoints clear at the top of Group B, before Thorgan Hazard's 42nd-minute goal at the Stadium La Cartuja Sevillaproved enough for them to see off Portugal in the round of 16.

That 1972 success against Italy is Belgium's only win in a EURO quarter-final; they lost to the Netherlands in 1976(0-5 a, 1-2 h) and Wales in 2016 (1-3).

This is Belgium's first game at the Football Arena Munich and only their second in the city, following a 0-0 friendlydraw against West Germany in September 1982.

Belgium's record in Germany is W2 D3 L9, their last visit a 3-1 UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying defeat in Düsseldorf inOctober 2011. Their last victory in the country was a 2-1 UEFA European Championship qualifying success againstEast Germany in Leipzig in March 1983.

EURO facts: Italy

This is Italy's tenth EURO final tournament and their seventh in a row since sitting out the 1992 edition in Sweden.Only twice have they failed to advance through the group stage, in 1996 and 2004; they were quarter-finalists atUEFA EURO 2016.

Italy triumphed on home soil at the 1968 UEFA European Championship and have been runners-up twice since – in2000 and 2012.

This time round, Roberto Mancini's side won all ten of their qualifiers to finish first in Group J, swelling the number ofcountries to have reached the finals with a perfect record to eight.

A 3-0 win away to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their penultimate qualifier was Italy's tenth successive win in allinternationals, the first time in their history they had achieved that feat.

The Azzurri made it 11 straight victories with a 9-1 home win against Armenia in their final qualifying game, the firsttime they had scored nine goals in a game since August 1948. Seven different players were on the scoresheet, a newnational record.

Having never scored three goals in a EURO finals game before this tournament, Italy managed it in both their firsttwo matches, beating Switzerland and Turkey 3-0 at the Olimpico in Rome, where they secured first place in Group Awith a 1-0 defeat of Wales on Matchday 3.

Italy squeezed past Austria in the last 16 in London, extra-time goals from subsitutes Federico Chiesa (95) andMatteo Pessina (105) taking them into a fourth successive EURO quarter-final.

That made Italy's record in knockout ties at the EURO final tournament W8 L6.

That 1972 defeat by Belgium is one of three EURO quarter-final ties Italy have lost, the others both on penalties,against Spain in 2008 and Germany in 2016. They beat Bulgaria in 1968 (2-3 a, 2-0 h), Romania in 2000 (2-0) andEngland in 2012 (0-0, 4-2 pens), going on to reach the final in all three tournaments.

This is Italy's second game at the Football Arena Munich, after their 4-1 friendly loss against Germany in March2016. That was their second match in the city, where they beat Haiti 3-1 at the Olympiastadion in the 1974 FIFA WorldCup group stage.

Italy's overall record in Germany is W16 D9 L7, their last visit that 2016 loss in Munich. They won the 2006 WorldCup in Germany, playing two of their games in Hamburg, one in Hannover and two in Kaiserslautern before beatingthe hosts 2-0 after extra time in the semi-final in Dortmund and then defeating France on penalties at Berlin'sOlympiastadion.

The Azzurri's record at the 2006 World Cup was W5 D2; at the 1974 tournament in West Germany it was W1 D1 L1,Italy opening with that victory against Haiti in Munich before playing their next two games in Stuttgart. That was alsowhere their 1988 UEFA European Championship campaign ended with a 2-0 semi-final defeat by the Soviet Union;their record at that tournament in West Germany was W2 D1 L1.

LINKS AND TRIVIA

Opposing managers Martínez and Mancini were in charge of Wigan Athletic and Manchester City respectively in the2013 FA Cup final, Wigan winning 1-0 to claim their only major trophy; Mancini left City two days later.

Lukaku was an Italian title winner with Internazionale in 2020/21, scoring 24 league goals.

Lukaku signed for the Milan club in 2019, with Nicolò Barella and Alessandro Bastoni among his team-mates.

Lukaku has faced Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma in four Milan derbies as an Inter player, scoring in each one.

Dries Mertens joined Napoli in 2013 and is now the club's all-time record scorer with 135 goals. His current teammates in Naples include Lorenzo Insigne (2013–), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (2019–) and Alex Meret (2018–).

Mertens has scored three Serie A goals past AC Milan's Donnarumma.

Have also played in Italy:

Thomas Vermaelen (Roma 2016/17).

Dennis Praet (Sampdoria 2016–19)

Timothy Castagne (Atalanta 2017–20)

A Ciro Immobile goal helped Lazio to a 3-1 home win against a Borussia Dortmund side including Thomas Meunierand Axel Witsel in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 20 October 2021. The Italy striker also scored apenalty in the 1-1 draw in Dortmund with Thorgan Hazard starting for the German side and Witsel coming on as asubstitute.

Have played together:

Thomas Meunier & Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain 2016–20)

Thomas Vermaelen & Emerson (Roma 2016/17)

Timothy Castagne & Leonardo Spinazzola, Bryan Cristante (Atalanta 2017/18)

Timothy Castagne & Rafael Tolói (Atalanta 2017–20)

Eden Hazard & Emerson (Chelsea 2018–19)

Eden Hazard & Jorginho (Chelsea 2018/19)

Dries Mertens & Jorginho (Napoli 2014–18)

Jorginho's Chelsea defeated Kevin De Bruyne's Manchester City 1-0 in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final inPorto.

De Bruyne had scored the first of City's four goals in the semi-final against a Paris Saint-Germain side featuringMarco Verratti and Alessandro Florenzi.

Youri Tielemans scored the winning goal for Leicester City in the 2021 FA Cup final against Jorginho's Chelsea (1-0). Castagne also played for Leicester, with Praet an unused substitute – as was Emerson for Chelsea.

PENALTY SHOOT-OUTS

Belgium's record in competitive penalty shoot-outs is W1 L0:

5-4 v Spain, 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final

Italy's shoot-out record is W4 L7:

8-9 v Czechoslovakia, 1980 UEFA European Championship third-place play-off

3-4 v Argentina, 1990 FIFA World Cup semi-final

2-3 v Brazil, 1994 FIFA World Cup final

3-4 v France, 1998 FIFA World Cup quarter-final

3-1 v Netherlands, UEFA EURO 2000 semi-final

5-3 v France, 2006 FIFA World Cup final

2-4 v Spain, UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-final

4-2 v England, UEFA EURO 2012 quarter-final

6-7 v Spain, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final

3-2 v Uruguay, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup third-place play-off

5-6 v Germany, UEFA EURO 2016 quarter-final

Italy have been involved in shoot-outs at each of the last three EURO final tournaments.

LATEST NEWS

Belgium

Belgium's round of 16 win against Portugal put them into their fourth successive major tournament quarter-final.They were defeated at this stage in the 2014 FIFA World Cup (1-0 by Argentina) and UEFA EURO 2016 (3-1 byWales) but won their most recent last-eight encounter, 2-1 against Brazil at the 2018 World Cup.

This is the first time that Belgium have ever won four successive matches at a EURO final tournament.

In beating Denmark 2-1 in Copenhagen on Matchday 2, Belgium became the first team to come from behind and winat UEFA EURO 2020. The subsequent wins against Finland in Saint Petersburg and Portugal in Seville havestretched their perfect record in this competition, qualifiers included, to 14 wins out of 14, with 48 goals scored andjust four conceded.

Thorgan Hazard's winning strike against Portugal was his second goal in successive UEFA EURO 2020 encounters,the Borussia Dortmund player having also scored the equaliser against Denmark – his first at a tournament. Hemissed the final group game against Finland.

Belgium's opening 3-0 win against Russia was their joint biggest victory in a EURO finals group game, matching theone by the same scoreline against the Republic of Ireland on Matchday 2 of UEFA EURO 2016. Their biggest win was4-0 against Hungary in the round of 16 five years ago.

Belgium have the most experienced squad at UEFA EURO 2020, which now contains five players with 100 or morecaps, Dries Mertens having joined Jan Vertonghen, Axel Witsel, Toby Alderweireld and Eden Hazard by reaching hiscentury against Denmark.

Roberto Martínez's side were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece in the first of their two pre-UEFA EURO 2020 Brussels friendlies on 3 June, Thorgan Hazard's first-half strike proving insufficient for victory, but they returned to winning waysthree days later by defeating Croatia 1-0 thanks to Romelu Lukaku's 60th international goal.

Lukaku's double against Russia was his 17th for Belgium; he has scored two hat-tricks. The goal against Finlandwas his record-extending 63rd for his country.

Thomas Meunier's goal against Russia was his second in successive final tournament appearances, the wing-backhaving found the net for Belgium against England in the third place play-off of the 2018 FIFA World Cup (2-0) – agame also staged at the Saint Petersburg Stadium.

Kevin De Bruyne's winner against Denmark was his first goal at the EURO finals, on his sixth appearance, and thirdin tournament football, the Manchester City midfielder having also scored at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

The Red Devils have now won 23 of their last 27 matches, the only defeat in that sequence coming against Englandat Wembley in the UEFA Nations League on 11 October 2020 (1-2), which makes them unbeaten in their last 13 (W11D2). Despite that setback Belgium qualified for the UEFA Nations League finals in Italy later this year and will meetworld champions France in the second semi-final in Turin on 7 October.

Belgium's squad contains newly-crowned league title winners from England (De Bruyne, Manchester City), Italy(Lukaku, Internazionale) and Spain (Yannick Carrasco, Atlético de Madrid) as well as a Belgian champion in ClubBrugge's Hans Vanaken. They also boast three 2020/21 domestic cup winners apiece from Dortmund (ThorganHazard, Meunier and Witsel) and Leicester City (Timothy Castagne, Dennis Praet and final match-winner YouriTielemans).

No fewer than 15 of Belgium's 23-man squad from UEFA EURO 2016 and 18 of their 2018 FIFA World Cup squadhave returned to participate in this event. The only major tournament freshmen for UEFA EURO 2020 are Vanaken,Castagne, Praet, Matz Sels, Leandro Trossard, Jérémy Doku and goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski, who on 29 June wasadded to the squad to replace the injured Simon Mignolet.

Castagne was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining facial fractures in Belgium's opening match againstRussia. De Bruyne and Eden Hazard were both forced to leave the field with injuries against Portugal.

Every one of Belgium's 24 outfield players has seen action in the team's first four UEFA EURO 2020 matches, withjust back-up goalkeepers Sels, Mignolet and Kaminski yet to make an appearance.

Italy

Italy's round of 16 win against Austria was their 12th in succession, though Austria's late consolation at Wembleywas the first conceded by Roberto Mancini's side during that run.

The Azzurri are now unbeaten in 31 internationals (W26 D5), breaking a national record that had lasted since the1930s. Their last defeat was 1-0 against Portugal in Lisbon in the UEFA Nations League on 10 September 2018.

Italy had never scored more than two goals in a EURO finals match before this tournament, but they managed threein both of their opening two games. The only other EURO in which they won all three group encounters was in 2000,when they also kicked off with a win against Turkey (2-1) before beating Belgium (2-0) and Sweden (2-1) and goingon to finish as runners-up to France.

Ciro Immobile is one cap short of 50 for Italy and set to become only the third member of Mancini's squad to reachthe half-century. The Lazio striker is also the top scorer in Italy's party, having found the net on five of his last six startsfor the Azzurri to take his all-time international goal tally to 15.

Manuel Locatelli's double against Switzerland on Matchday 2 was the first of his professional career. He had onlyscored once previously for Italy, in a FIFA World Cup qualifier away to Bulgaria in March this year (2-0).

Federico Chiesa's goal against Austria was just his second for Italy on his 29th appearance, the only previous onehaving completed the scoring in the Azzurri's closing 9-1 UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying win against Armenia.

Matteo Pessina, a late addition to Italy's squad following the withdrawal of injured Stefano Sensi, scored the winninggoals against both Wales and Austria, having notched his first two at international level in a pre-tournament 7-0friendly win against San Marino.

Gaetano Castrovilli, who won the second of his three caps against San Marino, 18 months after his debut, replacedthe injured Lorenzo Pellegrini in the squad on the eve of the tournament.

All but one of the 26 players in Mancini's squad has made it on to the field of play so far at UEFA EURO 2020,goalkeeper Alex Meret the exception.

Among the seven Italy players selected for both UEFA EURO 2016 and this tournament are skipper Giorgio Chiellini,who is appearing in his fourth successive EURO finals, and Leonardo Bonucci and Salvatore Sirigu, who are bothinvolved in their third. The other survivors from five years ago are Federico Bernardeschi, Alessandro Florenzi, Immobile and Matchday 1 goalscorer Lorenzo Insigne.

Bonucci made his 15th EURO finals appearance against Austria, one more than injured team-mate Chiellini, the manhe has replaced as captain. Only Gianluigi Buffon (17) has made more in the tournament for Italy.

Chiellini and Bonucci are the only members of the Italy squad to have scored at any previous major tournament, theformer having found the net against both Brazil at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and Spain at UEFA EURO2016, while the latter was the Azzurri's scorer from the penalty spot in the 2016 quarter-final against Germany.

Italy will host the final stages of the UEFA Nations League in the autumn. They take on Spain in the first of the semifinals in Milan on 6 October.

WHAT THEY SAID?

Roberto Martínez, Belgium coach: "Italy will attack from the very first second; they will be very structured and dynamic. Every player knows his role. The game against Portugal was a game that could have been played a lot further down the line; usually players don't play these physical and intense games at this stage of the tournament. Luckily, we have enough days to recover and prepare."

Thorgan Hazard, Belgium midfielder: "Italy will be the toughest opponent we've met so far. They've had a good run of wins and it will be a nice challenge for us to end that sequence. Their style may suit us more than Portugal. They are enterprising so we may be able to profit from the open spaces, but it definitely won't be any easier."

Roberto Mancini, Italy coach: "We will play our own game, always respecting the team we are facing because we know how good they are. There are no easy games as we have seen in this tournament. Belgium are certainly one of the best teams in the world right now but it does not change much because every game is difficult at this stage of the tournament."

Giorgio Chiellini, Italy captain: "We don’t need to look for motivation for these kind of games, because adrenaline will do everything as soon as we step out on the pitch. I think it will be a match between two great sides and small details will likely make all the difference. We have a great deal of respect for [Romelu] Lukaku because he had a great season at Inter and he became a dominant player. But it's almost an insult to only talk about Lukaku when you see how many quality players that Belgium have."

Predicted line-ups

Belgium: Courtois; Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen; T. Hazard, Witsel, Tielemans, Meunier; E. Hazard/Mertens, Lukaku, Carrasco/De Bruyne

Out: Castagne

Doubtful: E. Hazard, De Bruyne

Misses next match if booked: Alderweireld, T. Hazard, Vermaelen

Italy: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne?

Misses next match if booked: Barella, Di Lorenzo, Pessina