England and Italy were drawn alongside Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta in a challenging qualification group on Sunday, from which the top two will qualify automatically for the tournament in Germany.
The duo met as recently as last month, when Giacomo Raspadori's goal condemned England to relegation from the top tier of the Nations League, while Mancini also led the Azzurri to victory over the Three Lions in last year's Euro 2020 final.
England's dismal Nations League campaign meant they – alongside world champions France – were in pot two for the draw in Frankfurt.
Although Mancini claims he expected Italy to land one of those two giants, he remains content with the draw and is looking forward to meeting Gareth Southgate's men.
"I was sure we would have one between England and France, but that's okay too," Mancini told Rai Sport after the draw.
"It's a group of five, it's doable. But there won't be simple games, they'll all have to be played.
"It will certainly be beautiful with England, with Southgate we know each other and if it continues like this we are pretty good, I don't know if he agrees.
"By now this challenge is a classic and, although we faced each other 20 days ago, it will be nice to meet again."
While Italy have happy memories of their recent games against England, remaining unbeaten in their last six head-to-head meetings, the same cannot be said about another of their opponents.
North Macedonia clinched a stunning win over Italy in the World Cup play-offs in March, ensuring the Azzurri missed out on a second consecutive edition of the tournament.
Mancini is urging caution ahead of that reunion, adding: "It's one of those games that happen every now and then. As we saw in Palermo, all matches must be played, even the simplest ones."
The Azzurri boss was also pleased to be drawn alongside Ukraine, declaring: "There will be some emotion... but Ukraine is still a good national team."
Malta and the Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) during their recent event, "Kickin' Cuisine to Fuel Your Game," a cooking programme held at The Summit in Kingston on Saturday, June 29, made their attempt to impart this wisdom on some of the country’s young footballers.
As part of the Malta Sparks campaign, this initiative is geared towards the development of tactical, nutritional, holistic, and psychological skills of U-17 footballers from the prominent teams including Arnett Gardens, Waterhouse, Portmore United, and Harbour View under the Professional Football Jamaica Limited League's Elite Development programme.
The event highlighted Neville Bell as Malta’s new Brand Ambassador, offered sports nutrition tips from Rohan Francis, and featured interactive Malta Shake and Go as well as a meal preparation segment by Chef Asia Thomas.
The day ended with a lively dance-off and trivia competition for exciting Malta prizes.
The teams faced each other in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium last year, with Italy emerging victorious on penalties to win their first European Championship trophy since 1968 and deny England their first major title in 55 years.
The sides also met twice in the recent Nations League campaign, playing out a goalless draw at Molineux in June before Giacomo Raspadori gave Italy a 1-0 triumph in the return fixture at San Siro in September.
The Three Lions have not beaten Italy in six attempts since a 2-1 victory in 2012, and Southgate says that run needs to end.
"England's record against Italy generally is not very good," Southgate told Sky Sports. "So we've got to improve that.
"There's not too many surprises, they've changed the team a lot for all of those different matches.
"We know the quality they have, we know the depth that they have."
England and Italy have been drawn in Group C alongside Ukraine, Malta and North Macedonia, the latter of whom knocked the Azzurri out of the World Cup play-offs earlier this year, preventing the European champions from making it to Qatar.
Southgate acknowledged the overall difficulty of the group, adding: "It's clearly a tough draw, given the quality of the opposition.
"But we've had draws in qualification that have probably been a little bit more comfortable than that, although I'd have to say Poland and Hungary in the last qualifying group was particularly tough as well, so we're used to that.
"The draws are what they are, it's how you perform on the day."
