Official: Calafiori drops out of Italy squad but won’t return to Arsenal | OneFootball

Riccardo Calafiori has been forced to withdraw from the Italy national team squad ahead of Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Norway, but will not return to Arsenal ahead of the North London Derby against rivals Tottenham next weekend just yet.

Official: Calafiori leaves Italy camp and returns to Arsenal

Calafiori was included in Gennaro Gattuso’s squad of 27 players for World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway during the November international break, but has been struggling with his fitness at Coverciano this week.

The former Bologna centre-back trained individually during the first part of the week, and was not involved for Italy’s 2-0 win over Moldova on Thursday.

FLORENCE, ITALY – JUNE 07: Andrea Cambiaso and Riccardo Calafiori of Italy in action during an Italy training session at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on June 07, 2024 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

He stayed on with the Azzurri squad, originally with the aim of returning to full fitness in time for the Norway qualifier on Sunday.

However, it was confirmed during the pre-match press conferences on Saturday that Calafiori will not be fit enough to play against Norway. He will not return to Arsenal immediately, though, as Gattuso confirmed that he will watch Italy from the San Siro stands along with Sandro Tonali on Sunday.

Moise Kean and Nicolo Cambiaghi also withdrew from the squad earlier this week.