The Ins and Outs of Mancini’s latest Italy squad: 11 dropped, 8 new additions

Roberto Mancini at the Italy training session in September 2026 (figc.it)

Roberto Mancini named an Italy national team squad of 31 players on Thursday evening ahead of November’s Nations League fixtures against France and Belgium, but who dropped out and who are the new additions to the latest Azzurri squad? 

Italy will be in action against France in San Siro next Thursday, November 12, and away against Belgium on Sunday, November 15. 

As things stand, Italy sit in second place in their Nations League group on seven points after four matches. France lead the way on 10, Belgium are in third on six and Turkiye are bottom on zero. 

After naming a squad of 34 players for his first camp back in charge of the Italy national team last month, Mancini has named a roster of 31 players this time around. 11 players that were named in Mancini’s squad back in September have dropped out and eight new faces have been called in. 

Some of the players that have dropped out of the squad have returned to the U21s, where they will be more likely to gain playing time this break, including goalkeeper Massimo Pessina, defender Eddy Kouadio and striker Samuele Inacio. 

Injuries have ruled Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Giacomo Raspadori and Moise Kean out of selection this time around. 

The other names to drop out of the squad are Bryan Cristante, Rolando Mandragora, Daniel Maldini and Mohamed Ali Zoma. 

As for the new additions, there is a return to the squad for Marco Palestra, who has recently made his first Premier League appearances with Chelsea after picking up an injury a few days before the season kicked off. 

Niccolo Pisilli has returned, as has Samuele Ricci. The Como midfielder was not originally named in Mancini’s 34-man squad when it was announced in September, but was later called in as a replacement for Cristante, who left the camp through injury. 

Completing the new additions are Alphadjo Cisse, Mattia Liberali, Luca Koleosho, Riccardo Cassano and Simone Lontani. 

17-year-old Cassano and 18-year-old Lontani will be with the senior squad for a few days to train and effectively audition in front of Mancini, but will then return to the U18 and U19 squads later on in the week, where they will be more likely to earn minutes this break. 

Out: Massimo Pessina (Bologna), Diego Coppola (Brighton), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Eddy Kouadio (Monza), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Rolando Mandragora (Torino), Samuele Inacio (Borussia Dortmund), Moise Kean (Como), Daniel Maldini (Cagliari), Giacomo Raspadori (Atalanta), Mohamed Ali Zoma (Nurnberg). 

Ins:  Marco Palestra (Chelsea), Riccardo Cassano (Como), Niccolo Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Como), Simone Lontani (Parma), Alphadjo Cisse (Milan), Luca Koleosho (Paris FC), Mattia Liberali (Como). 

Mancini’s latest Italy squad

Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Man City), Guglielmo Vicario (Juventus).  

Defenders: Honest Ahanor (Crystal Palace), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Roma), Michael Kayode (Brentford), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Marco Palestra (Chelesa), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta). 

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Riccardo Cassano (Como), Issa Doumbia (Sporting CP), Nicolò Fagioli (Fiorentina), Davide Frattesi (Lazio), Simone Lontani (Parma), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Como), Alessandro Romano (Cagliari), Sandro Tonali (Tottenham). 

Attackers: Nicolò Cambiaghi (Bologna), Alphadjo Cisse (Milan), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Sebastiano Esposito (Sassuolo), Luca Koleosho (Paris FC), Mattia Liberali (Como), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Antonio Vergara (Napoli), Nicolo Zaniolo (Udinese).