England Supporters Club

Three Lions to travel to Italy next March to face Azzurri

Posted by Team England at 14:02 on Thursday 02 October 2014

We're pleased to announce that England will take on Italy on Tuesday 31 March 2015.

The Azzurri will play host to England with a venue to be confirmed at a later date. A return fixture will also be taking place at Wembley on a date to be confirmed in the 2016-18 FIFA World Cup qualification cycle.

England have faced Italy 25 times at senior level, winning eight, while the Italians have been victorious on ten occasions.

The last time the two nations went head to head was at this summer’s World Cup Finals in Brazil. Goals from Claudio Marchisio and Daniel Sturridge made it 1-1 at half time in Manaus, but Mario Balotelli’s header after the break consigned Roy Hodgson’s side to a 2-1 defeat.

England Manager Roy Hodgson said: “Italy have always provided stern opposition for England and these two fixtures will be no different. Italian teams are always set up very well and they have a great history of producing world class footballers. It will give us great preparation leading into major international tournaments.

“After managing in Italy with Inter Milan, it will be a fantastic experience for me personally to go back to Italy and manage England.” It is 14 years since England’s last visit to Italy - they were defeated 1-0 by a Gennaro Gattuso strike at Stadio Delle Alpi. This game also marked David Beckham’s first game as captain of his country.

Tickets for this game will be available via the England Supporters Travel Club, click here to join and find out more on the Travel membership.

England's next clash with San Marino is at Wembley Stadium on Thursday 9 October.