After losing to Portugal, Italy missed out on a chance to be among the nine seeded nations for the 2018 World Cup qualifying round draw. So with a win needed for Italy, the match was only a friendly on paper. In addition, the result also saw the end to Italy’s unbeaten run this season, with Antonio Conte suffering his first defeat as head coach of the national team. Conte sent his team out in a 4-3-3 formation with Sirigu in goal, behind a back four of De Sciglio, Bonucci, Ranocchia and Darmian. Pirlo was flanked by Bertolacci and Soriano in midfield, whilst El Shaarawy, Immobile and Candreva led Italy’s attack.

The Azzurri had a good start with Pirlo hitting the target with a free kick from a tight angle (3rd min), but it wasn’t enough to put Beto under any real pressure. Bertolacci came close in the 19th minute, but his long range effort whistled just wide of the Portugal goal. El Shaarawy came closer to opening the scoring, after cutting in from the left and curling a shot inches wide (27th min).

Despite their strong start in attack, Italy carelessly gave away two chances which Portugal were unable to capitalise on. On the half-hour mark, a Sirigu mistake gifted Varela a huge chance to score into an open net, but Ranocchia was quick to clear the shot off the line. Soon after though, it was the Inter defender Ranocchia who this time gave the ball away to Moutinho, but Sirigu did well to save his close-range effort.
Italy came out even more determined in the second half, but Soriano’s attempt flew just over the bar (47th min). Just two minutes later, Bonucci headed onto the post after a delightful free kick into the box from Pirlo, and Darmian’s rebounded effort was deflected just over. As if their luck couldn’t get any worse, Italy then fell victim to a quick counter attack and Portugal took the lead. Quaresma sprinted down the left wing, before crossing the ball low into the box with the outside of his boot, giving Èder a simple finish from close range.

This triggered many substitutions by the Italy manager, the first being Vazquez in place of Soriano, followed by Gabbiadini in place of Candreva. The Azzurri had another chance through Darmian, but his low curling wasn’t quite on target. It was then time for Sansone to make his Azzurri debut, coming on for El Shaarawy. Conte continued to inject fresh players into the game: Matri, Pasqual and Parolo all coming on for Immobile, De Sciglio and Bertolacci. But it didn’t stop Portugal dictating the run of play, with their confidence boosted by a guaranteed place among the top seeds. With minutes to go, Italy had two more chances to equalise, but the Portuguese keeper Beto saved superbly from both Gabbiadini and then Vazquez. In the end it wasn’t to be and after eleven games, the Azzurri have finally lost a game in Geneva.