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Four games in eleven days: a real tour de force as Italy look to rediscover enthusiasm and confidence after failing to qualify for the World Cup. The Azzurri's Nations League campaign gets under way with Roberto Mancini back in charge and naming a 34-player squad. Nine players have received their first Italy call-up: Bologna goalkeeper Massimo Pessina, Roma defender Daniele Ghilardi, Brentford defender Michael Kayode, Monza defender Eddy Kouadio, Cagliari midfielder Alessandro Romano, Sporting CP midfielder Issa Doumbia, Sassuolo forward Sebastiano Esposito, Napoli forward Antonio Vergara and Nürnberg forward Mohamed Alì Zoma.
Honest Ahanor (Crystal Palace) and Samuele Inacio (Borussia Dortmund) retain their places after being selected for last June's friendlies against Luxembourg and Greece. Nicolò Fagioli and Nicolò Zaniolo return to the Azzurri squad after a spell away, with both last appearing in October 2024, while Rolando Mandragora returns for the first time since March 2021.
Italy will hold their first training session at Coverciano on Monday 21 September before opening their campaign in the fifth edition of the Nations League against Belgium at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Friday 25 September. Three days later, the Azzurri will travel to Bursa to face Türkiye at the Atatürk Spor Kompleksi, before taking on France in Saint-Denis on Friday 2 October. The first international window of the season will conclude with a second home game against Türkiye on Monday 5 October at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna.
DIANA BIANCHEDI MAKES HER DEBUT AS HEAD OF DELEGATION. Diana Bianchedi will also make her debut as head of delegation at the squad's training camp. The former Azzurra fencer, who has extensive experience in sports management, is the first woman to hold the role of head of delegation for the national team.
THE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Massimo Pessina (Bologna), Guglielmo Vicario (Juventus);
DEFENDERS: Honest Ahanor (Crystal Palace), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Diego Coppola (Paris FC), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Roma), Michael Kayode (Brentford), Eddy Kouadio (Monza), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta);
MIDFIELDERS: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Issa Doumbia (Sporting CP), Nicolò Fagioli (Fiorentina), Davide Frattesi (Lazio), Rolando Mandragora (Torino), Alessandro Romano (Cagliari), Sandro Tonali (Tottenham);
FORWARDS: Nicolò Cambiaghi (Bologna), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Sebastiano Esposito (Sassuolo), Samuele Inacio (Borussia Dortmund), Moise Kean (Como), Daniel Maldini (Cagliari), Giacomo Raspadori (Atalanta), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Antonio Vergara (Napoli), Nicolò Zaniolo (Udinese), Mohamed Alì Zoma (Nürnberg).
PREVIOUS MEETINGS WITH BELGIUM, TÜRKIYE AND FRANCE. Strange but true: the last two matches played by the national team in Rome and Bologna saw Italy face Belgium and Türkiye respectively. On 10 October 2024 at the Olimpico, the Azzurri drew 2-2 with the Red Devils, taking a 2-0 lead through goals from Cambiaso and Retegui before De Cuyper and Trossard brought Belgium level. The 4 June 2024 friendly between Italy and Türkiye also ended in a draw (0-0), in the final test before the European Championship began.
Italy have the better head-to-head record against both opponents, with 17 wins, five draws and four defeats against Belgium, and nine wins and four draws against Türkiye. Italy and France have met 41 times since the national team's first historic match on 15 May 1910 at the Arena Civica in Milan, which ended in a convincing 6-2 victory. The Azzurri have recorded 19 wins, ten draws and twelve defeats. There have been many memorable encounters, from the 2006 World Cup final, won on penalties by Marcello Lippi's Italy, to the EURO 2000 final, when France prevailed thanks to David Trezeguet's golden goal.
THE 2026/27 NATIONS LEAGUE. Ahead of the Nations League reform, which from the 2028/29 season will adopt a format similar to that of the new club competitions (the leagues will have three groups of six teams, with each national team playing six matches against five different opponents), the regulations for this fifth edition of the tournament have also changed. To realign the numbers of national teams under the new format (each league will increase from the current 16 teams to 18) the promotion and relegation mechanisms will inevitably change.
Until last season, the bottom team in each of the four League A groups was automatically relegated to League B, while all four third-placed teams faced a relegation play-off against the League B runners-up. In the 2026/27 Nations League, only the two lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams will be automatically relegated. The two best third-placed teams across the four groups will remain in League A, while the two lowest-ranked third-placed teams and the two best fourth-placed teams will face the runners-up from the four League B groups in play-offs. To secure direct access to League A in the next, revamped edition of the Nations League, reaching the quarter-finals or at least finishing among the two best third-placed teams will be important.
THE AZZURRI'S FIXTURES IN UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE GROUP A1
25 September 2026 (20.45 CEST): Italy vs. Belgium - Stadio Olimpico, Rome
28 September 2026 (20.45 CEST): Türkiye vs. Italy - Atatürk Spor Kompleksi, Bursa
2 October 2026 (20.45 CEST): France vs. Italy - Stade de France, Saint-Denis
5 October 2026 (20.45 CEST): Italy vs. Türkiye - Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna
12 November 2026 (20.45 CEST): Italy vs. France - Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
15 November 2026 (20.45 CEST): Belgium vs. Italy - King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels