Roberto Mancini Names Bold 34-Man Squad for UEFA Nations League
Roberto Mancini has wasted no time. In his first act since returning to the Italy bench, the 61-year-old has ripped up much of the old script and named a bold 34-man squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League campaign.
Re-appointed at the end of July after Gennaro Gattuso’s exit and the Azzurri’s failure to reach a third consecutive World Cup, Mancini now walks back into a very different landscape. The job is the same. The margin for error is not.
Only a handful of Euro 2020 heroes survive
The most striking detail sits at the heart of the list: just six players from Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph remain.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alessandro Bastoni, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Nicolo Barella, Bryan Cristante and Giacomo Raspadori are the only survivors of that Wembley night. Everyone else from that golden summer has either faded away, been overtaken, or simply not made the cut.
It is a clear signal. Mancini is not here to run a reunion tour.
Big names missing: Palestra, Udogie, Chiesa headline absentees
Some omissions jump off the page.
Chelsea defender Marco Palestra, recently sidelined by injury and capped just twice after debuting in March, is out. So is Tottenham Hotspur’s Destiny Udogie, who has not featured for Italy since June 2025. Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa, a key figure in past tournaments but unused since Euro 2024 despite a call-up earlier this year, also drops out of the national team picture for now.
They are not alone. Juventus trio Manuel Locatelli, Federico Gatti and Andrea Cambiaso miss out, as do Napoli pair Leonardo Spinazzola and Alessandro Buongiorno. Mateo Retegui, now at Al-Qadsiah, is another notable absentee from the attacking pool.
For a squad this large, the absences say as much as the inclusions.
Nine fresh faces for a new cycle
Mancini has turned to youth and new blood. Nine players receive their first senior call-up.
Brentford right-back Michael Kayode is one of the headline newcomers, joined by 18-year-old Bologna goalkeeper Massimo Pessina. The message is clear: competition starts now, not in two years’ time.
Roma defender Daniele Ghilardi, Monza’s Eddy Kouadio, Cagliari’s Alessandro Romano, Sporting Lisbon midfielder Issa Doumbia, Sassuolo’s Sebastiano Esposito, Napoli’s Antonio Vergara and Nurnberg’s Mohamed Ali Zoma also step into the senior set-up for the first time.
For each of them, Coverciano next week will feel like the start of something.
Young talent kept in the frame
Not everyone on the fringes has been cut loose.
Borussia Dortmund forward Samuele Inacio, born to a Brazilian father but committed to Italy, keeps his place. So does 18-year-old Honest Ahanor, currently on loan at Crystal Palace from Chelsea. Both remain part of the new-look core Mancini is trying to build, bridging club promise with international responsibility.
Around them, there is still a spine of established quality. Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori, Inter Milan pair Federico Dimarco and Nicolo Barella, Tottenham midfielder Sandro Tonali and Como striker Moise Kean are all included, giving the squad a blend of experience, pedigree and potential.
A brutal Nations League schedule awaits
There is no soft landing for Mancini’s second era.
Italy will gather for their first training session at Coverciano next Monday before launching their Nations League campaign against Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico on September 25. That opener in Rome will set the tone.
Three days later, the Azzurri head to Bursa to face Turkey, a fixture that will test both the squad’s depth and its resilience on the road. Then comes a marquee clash: 2026 World Cup semi-finalists France in Saint-Denis on October 2, a night that will measure exactly where this new Italy stands against Europe’s elite.
The international break closes with a second meeting with Turkey, this time at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on October 5.
By then, the experiment will already be under scrutiny. Is this the start of a renaissance under a familiar face, or the beginning of an even more painful rebuild for the Azzurri?
