Mancini names 34-man Italy squad for Nations League with nine new faces | OneFootball

Roberto Mancini has named a 34-man Italy squad for the Nations League, including nine newcomers, as his second spell in charge begins. According to Football Italia, the 61-year-old returned at the end of July and signed a contract running to 2030.

Italy face four matches across two weeks, starting against Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Friday 25 September. They then travel to Türkiye on Monday 28 September, visit France on Friday 2 October, and finish by hosting Türkiye at Bologna’s Stadio Dall’Ara on Monday 5 October.

The nine new faces are Massimo Pessina, Daniele Ghilardi, Michael Kayode, Eddy Kouadio, Alessandro Romano, Issa Doumbia, Sebastiano Esposito, Antonio Vergara and Mohamed Alì Zoma.

Mancini has also recalled Nicolò Fagioli and Nicolò Zaniolo, who last featured in October 2024, while Rolando Mandragora’s previous call-up was in March 2021. As expected, there is no place for Chelsea’s Marco Palestra, who has yet to play this season due to injury.

Italy will begin preparations at Coverciano, with the first training session scheduled for Monday 21 September.

Source: Football Italia

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”