Silvio Baldini temporarily leads Italy in the valleys of Luxembourg and Greece

Italy’s under-21 national team coach, Silvio Baldini, will lead the senior national team in its two international friendly matches against Luxembourg and Greece in June, after failing to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to what the local football federation announced on Friday.
The federation said in a brief statement: “On the occasion of the national team’s return to the stadiums in June, Silvio Baldini will assume its leadership.”
Baldini, who has been supervising the Italian U-21 national team since July 2025, will take over the leadership of the senior national team on June 3 in Luxembourg, then four days later in Greece.
Baldini has previously coached several clubs, most notably Palermo, Parma and Empoli, and is known for his unconventional training methods: last October, all the U-21 players went through a training session while blindfolding one eye, with the aim of improving their concentration in particular.
After being denied qualification to the World Cup for the third time in a row by Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European play-off final (1-1 after extra time, 1-4 on penalties), Italy has no longer had a coach since the departure of Gennaro Gattuso, who did not last in his position for more than a year.
The naming of the next coach, who will be the fourth since June 2023, is scheduled to be postponed until after the election of a new president of the Italian Football Federation on June 22, following the resignation of Gabriele Gravina.
According to the Italian press, Antonio Conte has the support of the federation, but the former Italian international, who led the first team between 2014 and 2016, is linked to a contract with Napoli.
Club president Aurelio De Laurentiis hinted at the weekend that he could be released from his contract, which expires in 2027.