Roberto Mancini has named his final squad in 2021, with 28 players earning call-ups for the matches against Switzerland and Northern Ireland, which will take place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park in Belfast on Friday 12 November and Monday 15 November respectively. Torino midfielder Tommaso Pobega has been included for the first time, while Sandro Tonali has also made the cut a year on from his last call-up.

180 decisive minutes await in World Cup qualifying, with the match between the Azzurri and Switzerland being akin to a playoff showdown: both teams are locked on 14 points at the top of Group C, with only the first-place side directly qualifying for Qatar 2022. Therefore, a big performance is needed from the European Champions, as well as the support from the Italy fans, who will fill the Olimpico in the hope that another memorable night is in store.

The Azzurri will meet up on Sunday evening at the Coverciano Federal Technical Centre and arrive in Rome on Wednesday 10 November, when they’ll visit the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. The National Team will remain in the capital after their game against the Swiss and travel to Belfast on Sunday 14 November ahead of their showdown against Northern Ireland.

ITALY VS. SWITZERLAND.
Switzerland are the team the Azzurri have faced the most times in their history: the two sides have met on 60 occasions between 1911 and 2021. Italy’s record against their Swiss counterparts is a favourable one: there have been 29 Azzurri wins, 23 draws (the last one in the last meeting in Basel earlier on in the group, which finished 0-0) and eight Switzerland victories. Italy are unbeaten against the Swiss for over 28 years: they’ve won five and drawn five of their last ten matches against them, with their last defeat coming in May 1993 (1-0 in Bern). Switzerland’s last victory in Italy was in October 1982, a 1-0 success in Rome. The National Team are set to play for the 63rd time in Rome, the city that has hosted the Azzurri on the most occasions. Italy’s record in the capital reads as follows: 38 wins (it’s the city where they’ve recorded the most victories), 17 draws and seven defeats; 114 goals scored and 47 conceded. Italy have won their last five matches in Rome and haven’t shipped any goals in their last four (a 427-minute run), with these victories coming against Norway, Greece, Turkey, Switzerland and Wales. Their last loss there came in August 2013, when Argentina ran out 2-1 winners (Insigne got on the scoresheet for the Azzurri that day). Italy vs. Switzerland has taken place five times in Rome: the Azzurri have won four and lost once, scoring ten and conceding three in the process. The Swiss are the team they’ve faced the most in the capital.

NORTHERN IRELAND VS. ITALY.
The Azzurri have faced Northern Ireland on ten occasions, winning seven of those games (every single one in Italy), drawing twice and losing once. The defeat was a costly one, however, with Italy missing out on the 1958 World Cup in Sweden as a result. The Azzurri have played three away matches against the Northern Irish, all of which took place in Belfast. However, they’ve never emerged victorious there, drawing twice and losing once.

STATE OF PLAY.
With both teams having won four and drawn twice, including the 0-0 stalemate in Basel, Italy and Switzerland will face off with first place in Group C of European World Cup qualifying at stake. Only the top side will achieve automatic qualification, while the second-place team will be forced to go down the playoff route. The playoffs will take place in March and see the ten group runners-up be joined by the two best group winners of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League overall ranking that have neither qualified directly for the final tournament as European Qualifiers group winners, nor entered the play-offs already as European Qualifiers group runners-up. The twelve teams will be drawn into three play-off paths for one-off semi-finals and a final, with the three path winners qualifying for the World Cup.

THE NATIONAL TEAM AT THE BAMBINO GESU CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
The Azzurri will arrive in Rome two days before their match against Switzerland and pay a very special visit to the Bambino Gesù Children’s hospital, where they’ll meet the young patients being treated there. It’ll be the second time that the National Team have visited the largest paediatric hospital in Europe after previously doing so on the eve of Italy vs. Greece in October 2019. The bond between the Azzurri and the hospital goes back to 2015 and has only been strengthened by various initiatives, including a €50,000 donation from the FIGC in order to enable the purchase of a machine to analyse and quantify DNA mutations.

N.b Videos and photos taken at the event will be distributed by the FIGC and OPBG, there will be no access for the media.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Genoa);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Davide Calabria (Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Lyon), Gianluca Mancini (Roma);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Jorginho (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Tommaso Pobega (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Milan), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo).

Schedule (all times CET unless stated otherwise)

Sunday 7 November
Meet-up at the Coverciano Federal Technical Centre
Monday 8 November
13:15 – Press conference at Coverciano – Head Coach *(access for journalists and photographers)
15:30 – Training at Coverciano *(open to journalists and photographers for first 15 minutes)
Tuesday 9 November
13:30 – Press conference at Coverciano – Player **(access for journalists)
16:00 – Training at Coverciano **(behind closed doors)
Wednesday 10 November
10:30 – Training at Coverciano **(behind closed doors)
Afternoon transfer from Florence to Roma and visit to Bambino Gesù Children’s hospital
Thursday 11 November
12:00 – Press conference at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, ITALY (access for journalists)
18:30 – Training at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, ITALY (first 15 minutes open to the media)
16:00 – Press conference at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Switzerland (access for journalists)
17:00 – Training at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Switzerland (first 15 minutes open to the media)
Friday 12 November
20:45 – ITALY vs. Switzerland. Post-match press conference and return to hotel to follow
Saturday 13 November
15:00 – Training at the Acqua Acetosa Olympic Training Centre in Rome (behind closed doors)
Sunday 14 November
10:30 – Transfer from Rome to Belfast
11:30 l.t Training, Northern Ireland (first 15 minutes open to the press)
13:00 l.t – Press conference, Northern Ireland ***(access for journalists)
17:30 l.t – Press conference, ITALY ***(access for journalists)
18:00 l.t – Training ITALY ***(first 15 minutes open to the media)
Monday 15 November
19:45 l.t – Northern Ireland vs. ITALY. Followed by post-match press conference and return to respective clubs

*Depending on capacity, journalists and photographers will be granted access to the press conference and the first 15 minutes of the team’s training session on Monday 8 November
**Only journalists will have access to successive press conferences at Coverciano, with the remaining training sessions taking place behind closed doors. TV operators will not be granted access. The FIGC will produce and distribute images relating to press conferences and training sessions to relevant parties upon request. For more info: Massimiliano Reale (FIGC Area Sales): email: m.reale@figcit. Tel: 06/84913023.
***The press conferences in Belfast will be reserved for eight media outlets. A Zoom link will be provided for accredited journalists to follow the conference.