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🇮🇹 Born late in the year? In Italy, you don't play! Other countries' fixes 🧠
TL;DR
In Italy, young footballers born in the second half of the year rarely get playing opportunities due to a preference for physically developed players. This trend has been supported by notable figures in Italian football over the years.
🇮🇹 Born late in the year? In Italy, you don't play! Other countries' fixes 🧠
Fabio Caressa said it 12 years ago, then Alessandro Del Piero repeated it, and after that pretty much all of Italy got behind this idea: "We only want them big and fast." Whether they are Italian or not matters little, at least to clubs.
And do those who, at 16, still haven’t developed the physique of a fully grown footballer get to play? Generally, no. The same fate that befalls most boys born in the second half of the year: because those born from July to December practically never play.
Young Italians: those born from July onward... don’t play
The math is simple: if you were born in the last 6 months of the year, you don’t play. That’s what the numbers revealed by Sky Sport tell us: in the Italy Under-17 squad at the 2025 World Cup, only 14% of the players were born in the second half of the year. An incredible 0% were born in the last quarter: from October to December.
ITALY U17 AT THE 2025 WORLD CUP:
- Born January-March: 62%
- Born April-June: 24%
- Born July-September: 14%
- Born October-December: 0%
The problem (called the Relative Age Effect) becomes slightly less serious the closer players get to physical maturity: because at 16, in 10 months, the body can change completely. At 21, that rarely happens.
U21 PLAYERS IN SERIE A
- Born January-March: 33%
- Born April-June: 31%
- Born July-September: 19%
- Born October-December: 17%
If we look at Italian U21 players getting minutes in Serie A (still very few, in any case), we can see that the gap remains significant. The boys born in the first quarter are almost double those born in the last quarter.
The solutions adopted by other countries
In Italy, then, it is practically impossible for anyone born from July onward to be part of any youth national team. At club level, these players will likely be relegated to the bench: not because they lack potential, but because they do not provide enough immediate guarantees.
Other European countries have found solutions to this problem, so let’s take a look at them.
ENGLAND
In England they use the Bio-Banding Programme: a program for 12- to 15-year-olds that identifies the boys’ biological maturation and does not assess them solely by chronological age. In this way, a 15-year-old with the physique of a 13-year-old will have the chance to play against 13-year-olds. Not because he is considered technically “worse,” but because physically he is not — yet — able to cope with the impact of facing his peers.
FRANCE
France has also started using a program similar to the English one, alongside the territorial selections "Avenir - Maturité Tardive", where the best talents born in the second half of the year are observed and selected. A special scouting system in which not only the very best are trained at federal centers, but also the best among those with late development.
GERMANY
In Germany too, the biological age of young players is analyzed. In this case, among 14- to 16-year-olds, the "Playing Down" initiative is applied: young players are given the opportunity to play in lower age categories without running into regulatory restrictions or over-age limits.
BELGIUM
In Belgium, the U15, U16, and U17 national teams have a specially created counterpart called "Futures": national representative teams in which footballers who are maturing later, the "Late Maturing Players," are called up. In this way, late-developing boys can represent their country at the highest level, while remaining under the watch of dedicated federal coaches.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
Q&A
Why do Italian football clubs favor players born earlier in the year?
Italian football clubs prefer players born earlier in the year because they often exhibit more physical maturity and development, which is seen as advantageous in competitive play.
What impact does being born in the second half of the year have on young footballers in Italy?
Young footballers born from July to December face significant challenges in getting playtime, as they are often overlooked for more physically developed players born earlier in the year.
Who are some notable figures that have commented on the issue of player selection in Italy?
Fabio Caressa and Alessandro Del Piero are among the notable figures who have highlighted the preference for physically larger and faster players in Italian football.
How does Italy's approach to youth football compare to other countries?
Other countries have implemented various strategies to ensure inclusivity and development for all young players, regardless of their birth month, unlike Italy's strict preference for earlier-born athletes.
