The Italian sports calendar in 2026

It will be a 2026 full of sports and extraordinary events, come on Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at the men’s soccer World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, for the first time in 3 different countries and for the first time with 48 teams.

Tennis

It starts with the run-up of Jannik Sinner to the number one seat in the world. It will be a real challenge with Carlos Alcaraz. The Italian and the Spaniard have won two Slams each in 2025. Both will return to the court in South Korea, in Seoul, on January 10th in an exhibition tournament at the Hyundai Super Match. Then in Melbourne they will play the “One Million Dollar Point Slam”, the event in which even amateurs will be able to challenge the great champions in a single point match. Instead, the Australian Open, the first Slam tournament, is scheduled from January 18th to February 1st; Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June: Wimbledon from 29 June to 13 July; New York from August 30th to September 13th. From 28 April to 17 May there are the Rome Internationals. At the end of the season the classic events with the ATP Finals in Turin (15-22 November) and the Davis Cup finals in Bologna (24-29 November).

Water polo, European Championships in January

The European men’s championships they will be played in Belgrade from 10 to 25 January. Having won the bronze in 2024, Settebello is in group D and will challenge Turkey (Sunday 11 January, 12.45 pm), Slovakia (Tuesday 13 January, 6 pm) and Romania (Thursday 15 January, 6 pm). The women’s ones, however, are from January 26th to February 5th in Funchal, Portugal. The Setterosa is in group C with Croatia (26 January, 2.45 pm), Serbia (27 January, 1.15 pm) and Türkiye (29 January, 10 am).

Cycling, the season

On January 20th the curtain rises on the cycling season with the Tour Down Under. There Milan-Sanremofirst classical monument, will be on March 21st. The other events: the Tour of Flanders on April 5th, Paris-Roubaix on April 12th. The Tour of Italy, instead, it will leave on May 8th. The Tour de France from July 4th. The Vuelta on August 22nd. THE World Cup I’m in Montreal, Canada from September 20th to 27th. It will be a year of great challenges: Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel (and not just the two of them) are ready to duel with last year’s overall champion: Tadej Pogacar.

Football: the final stages of the European cups

It returns on January 20th Champions League with the penultimate day of the group stage. The last day is scheduled for January 28th. The final of the top continental competition will be on May 30, 2026 in Budapest, Hungary. The other finals are on 20 May 2026 (Europa League in Istanbul), on 27 May the Conference League in Leipzig. The European Super Cup in Salzburg on 12 August 2026.

F1

F1 testing begins in January. There will even be nine days of testing before the start of the World Championship. The curtain rises – everyone going on the hunt Lando Norrisreigning world champion –, in Barcelona from 26 to 30 January behind closed doors (three days in total for each team), then double session in Bahrain with open doors (11-13 February and 18-20 February). The season will begin in Australia on March 8, while the last GP will be in Abu Dhabi on December 6. The Italian GP in Monza on the weekend of 4 to 6 September.

Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

The wait is almost over. The The Olympic brazier will be lit on February 6th in the opening ceremony of the Winter Games to be held at San Siro (the closing ceremony is scheduled for February 22 at the Verona Arena).

Rugby, the Six Nations

Classic event not to be missed in February. Return the Six Nations. Italy will play in Rome against Scotland on 7 February, then in Dublin against Ireland on the 14th and in Lille against France on the 22nd. On 7 March Italy-England in Rome, on 14 March in Cardiff Wales-Italy.

MotoGP

Il MotoGP saw a great Marc Marquez protagonist with the ninth World title won in his career. The Spaniard ended 2025 with an injury and now can’t wait to start again with the underdogs. The season restarts on the weekend of February 27-March 1 from Thailand. Last race on November 22nd in Valencia. The news: there is the Brazilian GP in Goiania, there is no Argentine GP which will return in 2027 in Buenos Aires. Two appointments in Italy: Mugello from 29 to 31 May, Misano from 11 to 13 September.

The Italian football play-offs in March

The Italy of Rino Gattuso they are all played in the playoffs for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The Azzurri, who have already missed Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, cannot fail. On March 26th they play the semi-final in Bergamo against Northern Ireland. If successful, they will play the grand final against either Wales or Bosnia on March 31, in Cardiff or Sarajevo. It won’t be easy, but our national team can’t make mistakes. If he gets the pass, Italy will be in group B with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. They will play on Friday 12 June in Toronto against Canada (9pm), on Thursday 18 June in Los Angeles against Switzerland (9pm), on Wednesday 24 June in Seattle against Qatar (also at 9pm).

The Football World Cup

Hoping Italy can also be there, the World Cup will be played for the first time in three countries: Canada, United States and Mexico. It will also be the first world championship tournament with 48 teams. The inaugural race is scheduled on June 11 in Mexico Citywhile the final is on July 19th at the MetLife Stadium in New York.

Serie A and Italian Cup

Inter, Milan and Napoli are competing for the scudetto. Our Serie A never rests. The 18th matchday will already be played on Friday 2 January with the Rossoneri going to Cagliari. This championship it will then end on May 24thwith the Italian Cup final taking place a few days earlier, on the 13th. Instead, the 2026-2027 season will start on August 23rd.

Swimming, it’s the year of the European Championships

Not just football, with the World Cup in summer 2026. The European swimming championships in Paris, France. From 31st July we begin with artistic swimming and diving, from 4th August swimming in open water, from 10th to 16th August the pool competitions.

Athletics, European Championships in Birmingham

The football World Cup, the European swimming championships and also the European Athletics Championshipsin Birmingham, England. Appointment from 10 to 16 August at the Alexander Stadium. The men’s 100 meters final is on August 11th, the men’s high jump final is scheduled for the 14th. But be careful. Before the European Championships, there is the World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, from 20 to 22 March.

Volleyball, European men’s and women’s championships

After having won the World Cup with both women’s and men’s volleyball, our two national teams will be involved – from 21 August – in the European Championships. The continental tournament offers the step through the Olympiad of Los Angelesguaranteed to the winning teams. Julio Velasco’s Italian team will be on the field from August 21st, in the group stage in Gothenburg, then the round of 16 and quarterfinals in Brno and the eventual Final Four in Istanbul. Italy will instead host the men’s European Championships (10-26 September): the first match on 10 September in Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, then Modena for the other group matches, then Turin (round of 16 and quarterfinals) and Milan (Final Four).

Women’s basketball

And here we are Women’s Basketball World Cup from 4 to 13 September in Germany. Bronze at the last European Championships, the women’s national team seeks qualification in San Juan against Puerto Rico, USA (already qualified), New Zealand, Senegal and Spain. The first three pass.

January 1, 2026 (changed January 1, 2026 | 10:36)

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