Women’s World Cup 2023: Italy in-depth team guide and prediction

This team guide is part of a collaboration with the Guardian and other leading newspapers from the nations participating at the Women’s World Cup 2023.

This guide was written by Luca Bianchin and Martina Angelini for Gazzetta dello Sport.

Overview

Italy are in the middle of a generational transition. The coach, Milena Bertolini, sprung several surprises with an unpredictable World Cup squad. Bertolini excluded midfielder Aurora “Yaya” Galli, one of the pillars of the team that reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup, and captain Sara Gama. The centre-back is a legend of the Italian game, already in the national side’s hall of fame and the first female vice-president of the Italian Footballers’ Association.

Bertolini also dropped Valentina Bergamaschi and Martina Piemonte, giving a World Cup chance to the 16-year-old Giulia Dragoni. “Excluding Gama was a tough decision, but I have the right and the duty to choose,” Bertolini said. “The decision was technical, tactical, physical. We have other players that are ahead of her now.”

A group of players born around the millennium (Arianna Caruso, Martina Lenzini, Manuela Giugliano, Giada Greggi and Benedetta Glionna) will soon take control of the team, with teenagers Dragoni and Chiara Beccari as potential future leaders.

Italy qualified for the World Cup by winning Group G ahead of Switzerland, thanks to a late goal scored by Cristiana Girelli in Thun and aided by a draw between the Swiss and Romania. Bertolini usually plays with a four-player defensive line, Giugliano as a deep-lying playmaker and Barbara Bonansea as a driving force on the flank. Girelli and Valentina Giacinti, two experienced strikers, will be asked to provide goals and offensive quality.

“We want to play good, attractive football,” Bertolini said, looking forward to the World Cup. Chemistry will be a key factor. Italy need to find the magic they had in France in 2019. Otherwise, the end of a golden generation will be around the corner. “Euro 2022 was disappointing,” Bonansea said, reflecting on a tournament where Italy finished bottom of their group with one point. “I want to feel again the emotions we lived four years ago. If we enjoy ourselves, we can do something beautiful.”

The coach

Milena Bertolini was appointed in August 2017, after five years with Brescia. In this six-year spell, she has hit important targets for Italy: the quarter-finals at the 2019 World Cup, qualification for Euro 2022 and for this World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. However, a poor Euros has left its mark. Bertolini will probably leave after the World Cup and another coach will step in to write a new chapter. “I’ve been lucky enough to coach Italy,” Bertolini said. “Our life is always uncertain, and I am no exception. Our future will probably depend on the World Cup.”

Star player

Manuela Giugliano is quickly becoming the leader of Italy’s midfield and one of the players to watch in European football. She can play as a playmaker or a No 10, always displaying her style, vision, reading of the game and her ability to open up passing lanes that other players haven’t seen. At 25, she won her first scudetto with Roma this year and seems ready to step up. “I found a balance I’ve never had,” she said this year.

Rising star

Giulia Dragoni made the news in Italy and abroad when named in the squad. Dragoni, a gifted midfielder, is still 16 and played only a few Serie A minutes with Inter. In January, she left for Barcelona, becoming the first foreign woman to reside at La Masia, the legendary Barça academy. However her talent is clear and Dragoni has always been considered destined for success. At a very young age she was named “little Messi” for her dribbling and technical qualities. After six months with Barcelona B, she is expected to train – and debut – with the first team next season.

Did you know?

On Valentine’s Day 2023, defender Lisa Boattin and her Juventus teammate, Sweden’s Linda Sembrant, announced their relationship through a video published on the club’s Instagram account. In June, Lisa and Linda were together in Formentera; in July they will battle each other to reach the knockout stage. Italy and Sweden will face off in Wellington on 29 July.

Elena Linari’s father was a rugby player and Elena grew up watching videos of the All Blacks, idolising Jonah Lomu. A World Cup down under is therefore special for her. “I am honoured to play in New Zealand,” she told fifa.com. “I am going to buy some rugby shirts because this sport means so much to me.”

Standing of women’s football in Italy

In 2022, footballers in Italy’s women’s top division finally turned professional. An epochal change. However it was the 2019 World Cup that altered the perception of the women’s game in the country. Players like Gama, Girelli and Bonansea started to appear on TV and become ambassadors for important brands, even if a comparison with men’s football is still impossible. For girls in Italy, volleyball remains the most popular sport. The number of registered football players recently increased to between 35,000 and 40,000, thanks to regular TV coverage. During the 2022-23 campaign, one Serie A Femminile game per week was broadcast on free-to-air television channel La7. The World Cup will be live on Rai, the national public broadcasting company.

Realistic aim at the World Cup?

“Our goal is to qualify for the knockout stage, even if it won’t be easy,” Bertolini said. With Sweden as the clear favourites for Group G, Italy need to overcome Argentina and South Africa to advance. The first game, to be played in Auckland on 24 July against Argentina, is probably going to be pivotal.