Mancini drops 10 Italy players for Belgium clash

ENSCHEDE, NETHERLANDS - JUNE 15: Head coach of Italy Roberto Mancini attends before the UEFA Nations League 2022/23 semifinal match between Spain and Italy at FC Twente Stadium on June 15, 2023 in Enschede, Netherlands. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

Aside from the suspended Alessandro Bastoni, ten more Italy players won’t be available for tonight’s Nations League game against Belgium, including Nicolò Zaniolo and Antonio Vergara.

Roberto Mancini’s Italy host Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome this evening in the opening game of the 2026-27 Nations League.

10 Italy players plus suspended Bastoni not called up for Belgium

Inter star Bastoni is suspended after he was sent off in the Azzurri’s previous competitive match, the painful World Cup play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina in March.

Bastoni has been called up for this break, but will miss tonight’s match. As reported by Sport Mediaset, Mancini has dropped ten more players for the Belgium clash: Massimo Pessina, Daniele Ghilardi, Eddy Kouadio, Matteo Ruggeri, Samuele Ricci, Nicolò Fagioli, Samuele Inacio, Zaniolo, Vergara and Sebastiano Esposito.

The full Italy squad for this break includes 34 players, but only 23 are eligible for each game.

After the game against Belgium, Italy will visit Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey next Monday, then visit France on October 2 and host Turkey in Bologna on October 5.

Football Italia is among the accredited media at the Stadio Olimpico this evening and will examine the game with a LIVE post-match show on YouTube, which you can follow with your questions and thoughts. Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel.