England and Italy meet for the first time since the Euro 2020 final, but this time the circumstances are much different.
The Italians famously won the previous meeting, claiming the continental title by way of a penalty shoot-out at Wembley. The Azzurri have since failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup, and head coach Roberto Mancini is tasked with transitioning the side into a new generation, which includes using the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League as a way to expose new players to the international game while still competing for a trophy.
Meanwhile, England have continued on the upward trajectory that was briefly paused by that shoot-out loss, and now are considered among the favourites to claim the Nations League crown and make a deep run at Qatar 2022.
While the teams are ostensibly reaching for different goals, there's a similarity in the way they are approaching this tournament as the rapid-fire nature of the fixture list has forced both sides to utilize a broader pool of players than usual.
England manager Gareth Southgate explained that a heavily-rotated squad could be on display against the Italians on Saturday.
"We have to think about some of the things we want to see and the freshness of the team as well and this is a good game for some of the other players to come into it," he said.
“It is a top-level game and it is a good sign to trust the players going into all these games.
“If we only give players certain types of matches then you don’t find out enough about them and they don’t find out the tactical challenges so for us it is a balance always of knowing we need to win matches but also try to find out about the players and give them good experiences.”
Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's match, including broadcast info and kick-off time:
England vs. Italy: What time is kick-off?
- Date: Saturday, June 11
- Time: 7:45 p.m. BST / 2:45 p.m. ET / 4:45 a.m. AEST (Sunday)
The match kicks off at 7:45 p.m. local time at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton.
How to watch England vs. Italy: TV channel, live stream
- UK: Channel 4, All4/Premier Player
- U.S.: ViX, fuboTV
- Canada: DAZN
- Australia: Optus Sport
England's remaining Nations League fixtures
Date | Fixture |
June 11 | England vs. Italy |
June 14 | England vs. Hungary |
Sept. 23 | Italy vs. England |
Sept. 26 | England vs. Germany |
Italy's remaining Nations League fixtures
Date | Fixture |
June 11 | England vs. Italy |
June 14 | Germany vs. Italy |
Sept. 23 | Italy vs. England |
Sept. 26 | Hungary vs. Italy |