Giorgio Chiellini retires from Italy after friendly against Argentina at Wembley

Giorgio Chiellini will retire from Italy after playing a final friendly against Argentina at Wembley in June.

Wembley is where Chiellini enjoyed his greatest moment in an Italy shirt, leading his team to EURO 2020 victory after beating England on penalties.

However, Chiellini was also part of the Italian squad that failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, the second time in a row that they failed to qualify for the tournament.

The central defender has not yet decided whether he wants to extend his club career at Juventus after this season.

Chiellini announced his international retirement after Juventus’ 2-1 win over Sassuolo, telling DAZN: “I am saying goodbye to the national team at Wembley.

“I would like to say goodbye to the Azzurri with a beautiful memory. That will definitely be my last game with Italy.”

The match against Argentina will take on the European champions against the Copa America winners and is branded as the Finalissima.

Chiellini, 37, first played for his country in 2004 and became a regular member of the squad in the years following Italy’s 2006 World Cup victory.

He won 116 caps in 18 years, played in six major tournaments and formed a famous defensive partnership with club mate Leonardo Bonucci.

He is joint fifth in the all-time appearances list for the Italian senior team, behind Daniele de Rossi, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon.

Speaking about his future at Juventus, where he has played since 2004, he said: “My love affair with Juventus does not end, it will never end.

“Of course I have to evaluate everything from now until the end of the season, talk to my family about what is best.

“Let’s get to fourth place” [in Serie A] first and win the Coppa Italia, then we sit down with my two families – at home and Juventus – to find out what is best for everyone.

“It was the same last summer, I took my time and signed the new contract only after the European Championship. At my age you can’t look too far into the long term, but that’s only normal, it’s all good.”

Juventus are fourth in Serie A, eight points behind leaders AC Milan.

(Photo: GES-Sportfoto/Getty Images)