Koleosho misses from the penalty spot, Cisse scores at the last second: Italy’s Under-21 team remains in contention

The Italian Under-21 national team defeated Armenia 1-0 in stoppage time, keeping its hopes alive for direct qualification for the 2027 Under-21 European Championship. The match in Yerevan was decided by Milan’s Alphadjo Cisse, who in the 95th minute found the perfect corner of the net and secured three crucial points to keep alive both the race for first place and the bid to finish as the best runner-up.

The goal by the young Milan forward settled a match that seemed destined for a 0-0 draw and appeared to be cursed, especially after Luca Koleosho missed a penalty kick in the 77th minute (awarded for a handball by Askaryan in the penalty area). Cisse, who had already come close to scoring in the 93rd minute only to be denied by opposing goalkeeper Ghazaryan, made no mistake two minutes later, sending the Azzurrini and head coach Silvio Baldini into celebration.

With one matchday still to go, Italy moves up to 24 points, three behind Poland, which on Wednesday soundly defeated Sweden 3-0. The Azzurrini’s next match will be against their Polish counterparts: they’ll need a victory by a two-goal margin to take the top spot. Otherwise, the points earned by the other second-place teams (against the first- through fifth-place teams in each group) will have to be compared to determine who will qualify directly for the European Championship as the best second-place team and who will have to go through the playoffs.

The Under-21 European Championship has been held since 1978 and will reach its 26th edition in 2027. Italy has won the tournament five times: three consecutive titles in 1992, 1994, and 1996, and again in 2000 and 2004. The Azzurrini failed to qualify only in 2011, losing the playoff for a spot in the final tournament to Belarus.