Mancini Announces 31-Man Squad for France and Belgium Matches

Roberto Mancini has announced a 31-player Italy squad for the Nations League matches to be played in November. The squad features players who have yet to wear the national team shirt, such as Alphadjo Cisse, Simone Lontani and Riccardo Cassano.

Italy will face France at San Siro on Thursday, 12 November. The away match against Belgium will be played on Sunday, 15 November.

In the group, Italy are second with seven points from four matches. France lead with 10 points, while Belgium are third with six points. Türkiye, yet to take a point, are at the bottom of the group.

Mancini had called up 34 players for his first camp after returning to the post last month. This time he included Cisse, Lontani, Cassano, Mattia Liberali and Luca Koleosho for the first time. Honest Ahanor played in two friendlies in June under Silvio Baldini, but has yet to get a chance in an official match. Marco Palestra has returned to the national team after starting to play Premier League matches for Chelsea.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori, Federico Dimarco, Nicolò Barella, Sandro Tonali and Pio Esposito form the core of the squad. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, however, was not included. Di Lorenzo was taken off at half-time with an injury in Napoli's match against Juventus.