Gattuso calls three uncapped players in Italy squad for World Cup play-offs | OneFootball

According to Football Italia, Gennaro Gattuso has named a 28-player Italy squad for the World Cup play-offs at the end of March, including three uncapped players.

Italy face Northern Ireland in the semi-final in Bergamo on March 26. The winner will visit Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final on March 31, a one-match decider for a place at the final World Cup tournament.

Given the stakes, Gattuso has kept faith with an experienced core. Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori, Federico Dimarco, Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Barella are expected to start against Northern Ireland. Federico Chiesa returns for the first time since EURO 2024.

Two of the uncapped are goalkeepers, Marco Carnesecchi and Elia Caprile. Neither has featured ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma or Guglielmo Vicario.

The only uncapped outfield player is Cagliari right-back Marco Palestra, on loan from Atalanta. The 21-year-old has impressed in a breakthrough Serie A season. He is also named in Cagliari’s starting line-up to face Napoli on Friday evening.

Source: Football Italia