Antonio Arena
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Antonio Arena | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 February 2009 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Roma | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 68 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| M&U Football Academy | |||||||||||||||||
| Western Sydney Wanderers | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2025 | Pescara | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Roma | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Pescara | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Roma | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Australia U16 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Italy U16 | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Italy U17 | 14 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Italy U18 | 8 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 March 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 March 2026 | |||||||||||||||||
Antonio Arena (born 10 February 2009) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Roma. Born in Australia of Italian descent, he has represented both Australia and Italy at youth international level, having most recently appeared for the Italy national under-18 team.
Club career
[edit]Arena is a youth product of the Australians clubs M&U Football Academy and Western Sydney Wanderers, before moving to Pescara in 2022 to finish his development.[2] On 15 February 2025, he signed his first professional contract until 2028.[3] He made his senior and professional debut with Pescara in a 4–1 Serie C win over Lucchese, and scored his side's fourth goal. At 16 years and 25 days old, he became the first 2009-born player to score in professional football in Italy, and also the youngest ever goalscorer for Pescara, beating the record of Marco Verratti.[4]
On 23 July 2025, Arena signed for Serie A club Roma.[5]
On 13 January 2026, Arena made his first-team debut for Roma in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, in a 3–2 defeat against Torino, scoring his first goal for the club with his first touch of the ball.[6]
International career
[edit]Born in Australia, Arena is of Italian descent through his grandparents from Taurianova.[7] He holds dual Australian-Italian citizenship.[4] He debuted with the Australia U16s in a friendly 4–3 win over the Switzerland U16s on 16 April 2024.[8] In January 2025, he was called up to the Italy U16s for a set of friendlies.[2]
Arena was a member of the Italy U17s' squad in their third place campaign at the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup, scoring two goals in seven appearances.[9]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 22 March 2026[10]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Pescara | 2024–25 | Serie C | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| Roma | 2025–26 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 | |
| Career total | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | ||
- ↑ Includes Coppa Italia
- ↑ Appearance in Serie C promotion play-offs
Honours
[edit]Italy U17
- FIFA U-17 World Cup third place: 2025[11]
References
[edit]- ↑ "L'Entella vola a +7. Pescara, 4-1 alla Lucchese: esordio e gol per il 2009 Antonio Arena e a luglio arriva il salto di qualità trasferendosi alla Roma per 1 milione". La Gazzetta dello Sport.
- 1 2 "Pescara Calcio, in rampa di lancio c'è il 16enne Antonio Arena". IlPescara.
- ↑ "Pescara, il giovane Antonio Arena ha firmato il suo primo contratto da professionista - TUTTO mercato WEB". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
- 1 2 https://www.eurosport.it/calcio/serie-c-girone-b/2024-2025/antonio-arena-da-record-a-16-anni-e-il-primo-2009-a-segnare-tra-i-professionisti-nel-4-1-del-pescara-alla-lucchese_sto20134561/story.shtml
- ↑ "Roma, ecco il giovane Antonio Arena: il classe 2009 arriva dal Pescara" (in Italian). Tuttomercatoweb. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ↑ "Australian 16-year-old Antonio Arena scores on debut for Italian giants Roma". The Guardian. 14 January 2026. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ↑ "Antonio Arena, il centravanti dei record cresciuto a Sydney: "Onorato di giocare per l'Italia" - FIGC". www.figc.it.
- ↑ "Subway Joeys seal 4-3 friendly win over Switzerland U-16 | Socceroos". www.socceroos.com.au. 11 April 2024.
- ↑ "Mondiale Under 17 dal 3 al 27 novembre in Qatar: i 21 convocati di Massimiliano Favo". FIGC.it (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 21 October 2025.
- ↑ "Antonio Arena". Soccerway.com. 14 January 2026.
- ↑ "Longoni saves bag Italy bronze". fifa.com. 27 November 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
External links
[edit]- Antonio Arena at Soccerway
- Tuttocalciatori Profile
- 2009 births
- Living people
- Soccer players from Sydney
- Italian men's footballers
- Italy men's youth international footballers
- Australian men's soccer players
- Australia men's youth international soccer players
- Australian people of Italian descent
- Delfino Pescara 1936 players
- AS Roma players
- Serie A players
- Serie C players
- Men's association football forwards
- 21st-century Italian sportsmen