If you ask any player on the Italian women’s national team about the future of the squad, they’re likely to tell you that the rest is still unwritten. The 2004 song, “Unwritten” by pop artist Natasha Bedingfield, became something of an anthem and rallying cry for Le Azzurre during their Cinderella run at UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. They joyously sang together as a team after making it to the knockout rounds and keeper Laura Giuliani even sang a line or two during a post-game interview. 

After a heartbreaking 2–1 loss to the defending Euro champions England in the semifinals, the lyrics of the song took on a new, but significant meaning for the Italians. As the squad regroups, hoping to build on this momentum and figure out what’s next, they are looking to write the rest of their story. 

The unlikely underdogs

Although the Italian women’s national team has a storied past, including appearances in the 1993 and 1997 Euros finals, recent performances have kept Le Azzurre as perennial underdogs, mostly a nonthreatening matchup for the top teams of Europe. It wasn’t until a quarterfinal appearance in the 2019 women’s World Cup that the squad began to see a breakthrough. 

Led by forwards Barbara Bonansea and Cristiana Girelli, coach Milena Bertolini ushered the squad into the spotlight, but inconsistent support from the federation and a reticence to evolve both in roster and tactics built to a harsh wake-up call in the subsequent 2022 Euros. Italy crashed out in the group stage, including a 5–1 thumping by France. 

That autumn, Italy professionalized its domestic league, Serie A Femminile, which proved to be a crucial step in finding success for players at the international level. However, Italy continued to struggle, winning only one match in the 2023 women’s World Cup and taking a 5–0 thrashing from Sweden. Bertolini was relieved of her coaching duties. 

That September, Italy appointed a relatively unknown Andrea Soncin as the new head coach of Le Azzurre. The former striker primarily coached youth men’s soccer and also had a short stint as interim coach for Venezia. 

The inexperienced Soncin quickly got to work, and seemed to be finding results for the Italians. The team made strides both in friendlies and in the UEFA Nations League, even picking up a win against the defending World Cup champions, Spain.

Veteran players made way for younger talent, and everything seemed to be looking up for the Italian women. In the lead-up to the 2025 Euros, speculation swirled: Would the Italian women’s national team be a dark horse?

Road to the semifinals

Italy started its 2025 Euros campaign off strong, picking up a critical win against Belgium in the opening match. In a group that included Portugal and Spain, the Italians were in charge of their fate, with a coveted second-place group stage finish and ticket to the knockout rounds within grasp. However, a 1–1 draw against Portugal momentarily put that at risk. 

Even in the stands, support was difficult to come by for the Azzurre. During the match against Portugal, the stadium tilted significantly towards the Portuguese side, perhaps providing that 12th-player push for their late equalizer. 

“Every football shirt that I saw [outside the stadium] was a Portugal shirt, and I saw two little blue dots at the far end of it,” says Conor Clancy, founder of Total Italian Football. “Even at the stadium, there were Italian fans with flags, but they were extremely outnumbered. It was quite a realization that there’s a long way to go in terms of telling people that this thing is happening and giving people a way to get to it.” 

As the tournament progressed, Italy started to find its stride. The 35-year-old Girelli netted three goals for her squad, unsurprising for the storied striker who boasts over 120 caps and 60 goals. 

“It’s a dream that becomes reality,” Girelli said after the quarterfinal. “Since we arrived in Switzerland, but also when we started the camp, I felt something special. I saw in the eyes of my teammates something I can’t explain in words. We knew it was difficult to reach the semifinal but we all knew we could do it.”

Italian fans, both from Italy and those who currently reside in Switzerland, started to pay more attention, and by the time the Italians made it past Norway in the quarterfinals and met England in the semis—the team’s first Euros semifinal appearance in nearly 30 years—the support was finally visible on the pitch.

“The interest just piqued as it went along, and there are even Italians living in Switzerland going to the games,” Clancy says. “It was very, very accessible. The trains in Switzerland were free on matchdays if you had a ticket.”

For striker Sofia Cantore, who will join the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit next month, she could hardly believe that the incredible journey to this moment was real.

“II struggle to process what’s happening; I always need a bit of time,” she told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “But seeing the others, especially the older girls, with tears in their eyes, made me realize we had accomplished something historic.”

Fans who traveled from Italy to the semifinal could hardly believe what was happening. Carlotta, a longtime women’s soccer fan, bought a spur-of-the-moment ticket so she wouldn’t miss out on history.

“It was surreal, from seeing the prematch on socials and then when I was at the ground, I couldn’t believe what was going on and don’t think I fully realized that it was indeed a seminal and not some friendly match,” she said. 

However, heartbreak awaited the Italians, who were just seconds away from an appearance in the finals. 

With just a minute left in added time, Italy was up 1–0 thanks to a goal from Bonansea in the 33rd minute, but the fresh legs from English teenage phenom Michelle Agyemang proved too much for Italy’s usually stalwart defense, and her equalizing goal took the match to extra time. The Italians would then concede a controversial penalty in the dying moments of the second half of extra time, which was saved by Guiliani, but scored by Chloe Kelly on the rebound. 

“The word that sticks with us is pride,” said Soncin following the match. “The girls must be proud of what they did, resisting the reigning champions should give us so much belief for the future. There are no words to describe the emotions that we have felt during this journey. It deserved a different ending, after so many decisions that are difficult to comment on. We felt the support of the Italians, both tonight and during our other matches. There have been many wonderful messages from Italy, another victory for the girls. It’s a shame as we were so close to our dream of playing in the final.”

Capitalizing on this moment

Despite a rocky start, the strong knockout stage performance showed much promise for the future of the Italian team and their ability to compete with Europe’s top national squads. 

“It was a breath of fresh air after the last Euros and World Cup as well, especially considering the general situation of the women’s football movement in Italy,” said Sebastiano Moretta, writer for Solo Calcio Femminile.

For Total Italian Football podcaster, Mia Claydon, how the Italian Football Federation reacts and capitalizes on this momentum will be vital to the continued growth and increased interest in the women’s game domestically. 

“The league has just had a massive rebrand, and they’re promising a lot—a new era, and this is something that they have to action and not just keep saying the buzzwords that people want to hear,” Claydon says. “The big thing is investment, money, and the only way you make more money from these things is by investing money and time into it. It takes time for it to grow, but it will, and we’ve seen that with England.”

After returning home to Italy, the squad was invited to the Quirinal Palace to be honored by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella. Girelli took to the podium to address the audience, and with tears in her eyes, made an impassioned plea to her country. 

“Thank you, Mr. President, for having us here. We interpret this invitation as a sign of respect, not only for our squad, but for all the people every day who give their all for our country’s colors.” 

The team had also visited the Quirinal after their 2019 quarterfinal appearance, but this time was different. 

“Today, we bring something more: awareness,” Girelli said. “The awareness of our value and of the ability to dream big. The awareness of carrying on our backs much more than just a jersey, but the hope of young girls who watch us and think, ‘one day, I’ll be there, too.’”

Even with barely missing the final, Girelli and her teammates know that this moment cannot be squandered. “We were a minute from the final, just one minute. But it is not that minute that defines us,” she said. “What defines us is the journey, the shared effort, the sincere tears, and the strong desire to demonstrate that we deserve respect, visibility, and a future.”

The Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) has long dragged its feet on providing women with the same resources and support as is provided to the men. Both on the national level and domestically, the discrepancies are apparent all the way down the soccer pyramid—and the fans know it. 

“Serie A Femminile is lacking funds and once you start going down to the lower leagues, it doesn’t get better,” says Carlotta. “The federation needs to do what they didn’t do five years ago. Professionalizing Serie A has been great but they need to take the next step now. TV numbers show the demand is there.”

With 4 million spectators tuning into RAI1 to watch Italy take on England in the semifinals, it was the most-watched program in Italy that night. There is hard evidence of an appetite for women’s football within the country. Now, it is up to the FICG to make good on its word, because the rest truly is unwritten.

More Soccer on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as What’s Next for the Italian Women’s National Team After Euros Semifinal Loss.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate