Gianluigi Donnarumma leads youthful Italy for June friendlies after World Cup absence | OneFootball

Italy, absent from the World Cup running 11 June to 19 July, will face Luxembourg on 3 June and Greece on 7 June with a heavily youthful squad led by captain Gianluigi Donnarumma.

According to L'Équipe, Silvio Baldini, the regular Under-21s coach, has named his first and probably only senior squad, promoting a large majority of uncapped players. Donnarumma made himself available for this window in April.

The goalkeeper has 81 caps. Beyond him, only four others have previously been called up for Italy: Pietro Comuzzo of Fiorentina, Marco Palestra of Cagliari, Niccolò Pisilli of AS Roma and Francesco Pio Esposito of Inter Milan.

The remainder are youngsters from Serie A and Serie B, plus four prospects playing in Germany and Paris FC’s Luca Koleosho. The overall average age is 20 years and six months.

The friendlies come after Italy missed out on the World Cup following a play-off defeat to Bosnia. Baldini will be on the bench for these matches.

He is expected to be replaced in the summer, starting a new cycle towards Euro 2028.

Source: L'Équipe