Roberto Mancini announced a 26-member Italy Squad for the 2022/23 Nations League Finals on Monday night.
Italy will be facing Spain in the re-match of the last season’s Nations League semi-final clash on 16 June 2023 and either Netherlands or Croatia should they progress to the final three days later.
The Azzurri seeks revenge after their world-record unbeaten run came to an end with a 2-1 defeat in the last meeting in 2021.
The 2022/23 Nations League Finals will be hosted by the Dutch with Italy’s last-four fixture venue being FC Twente Stadion located in Enschede. The final match of the competition will be held in De Kuip, Rotterdam which is the home stadium to this season’s Eredivisie winners Feyenoord.
Performance in Group Stage
Teams | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
Italy | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 11 |
Hungary | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
Germany | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 7 |
England | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 3 |
The group stages of the 2022/23 Nations League were played last year in June and September straight away after the conclusion of the club season. The usual schedule was disrupted due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar which took place in November for the first time in history. As a case, the games were frantic and some surprise results came out in the competition.
Mancini’s side managed to pip Hungary to the top of their group in League A by beating them 2-0 at the Puskas Arena in the final match of the previous stage. They also won the reverse fixture against the Magyars and defeated England, their opponents in Euro 2020 final. The only loss suffered was against Germany.
Euro 2024 Qualifiers
Italy 1-2 England - Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples (23 March 2023)
Malta 0-2 Italy - National Stadium, Ta' Qali (26 March 2023)
The Azzurri met the Three Lions again in the first match of the Euro 2024 Qualifiers in March this year but fail to win this time. Declan Rice and Harry Kane scored in the first half for the visitors and while Mateo Retegui pulled one back after the break with Luke Shaw sent-off at the later stages of the game, Italy suffered their first defeat at home in this meeting after 30 years. However, the side returned to winning ways in the very next game against Malta with Retegui scoring again and Matteo Pessina for the 2-0 victory.
Italy Squad Nations League
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Empoli)
Defenders: Federico Baschirotto (Leece), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Alessandro Florenzi (Milan), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta)
Midfielders: Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain), Nicolo Zaniolo (Galatasaray)
Forwards: Dominico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Wilfred Gnoto (Leeds United), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli / Sassuolo), Mateo Retegui (Tigre / Boca Juniors), Mateo Zaccagni (Lazio)
Head Coach: Roberto Mancini
Mancini has not picked players from Inter or Fiorentina with both clubs involved in European finals days before the Nations League. The players will be given rest after a demanding club season. Hence, a mainstay in the team like Nicolo Barella has not been selected for his involvement in the Champions League final. Atalanta’s Giorgio Scalvini and Sandro Tonali of Milan are left out. Lazio forwards Ciro Immobile and Mattia Zaccagni are recalled again to the Italian squad after not playing any part in the last round of Euro 2024 qualifiers. Leece’s centre-back Federico Baschirotto earns his debut call-up.
