The National Team are set to resume their World Cup qualifying campaign. After their first two matches in June (a 3-0 defeat in Norway and a 2-0 win over Moldova), the Azzurri return to action on Friday 5 September against Estonia in Bergamo, before travelling to Debrecen on Monday 8 September to take on Israel. Both matches kick off at 20:45 CEST.

At the Stadio di Bergamo, which is close to a sell-out with over 18,000 tickets sold for the Azzurri’s return, Gennaro Gattuso will make his debut as head coach. He has named a 28-man squad, with the players set to meet at the Coverciano Federal Technical Centre on Sunday 31 August. Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni, Bologna midfielder Giovanni Fabbian and Inter forward Francesco Pio Esposito have received their first senior call-ups, while Gianluca Mancini and Gianluca Scamacca return to the Azzurri squad more than a year after the European Championship in Germany.

SQUAD LIST

Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);

Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Giovanni Leoni (Liverpool), Gianluca Mancini (Roma);

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);

Forwards: Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid), Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).

OPPONENTS. The Azzurri have won all seven of their previous encounters with Estonia, who are currently 126th in the FIFA rankings and chasing their first-ever World Cup finals qualification. The most recent victory came in November 2020, when Italy won 4-0 in a friendly in Florence thanks to a brace from Grifo and goals from Bernardeschi and Orsolini. That match also saw Alessandro Bastoni make his senior national team debut. Italy have faced Israel seven times as well, recording six wins and one draw – a 0-0 stalemate at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. The most recent meeting between the sides was a 4-1 victory in the Nations League on 14 October last year in Udine, with Di Lorenzo bagging twice and Retegui and Frattesi also getting on the scoresheet.

ITALY RETURN TO BERGAMO AFTER FIVE YEARS. Italy are set to play in Bergamo for the first time since their 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in October 2020 in a UEFA Nations League group match, with Lorenzo Pellegrini scoring the goal. On that occasion, the National Team paid tribute to Bergamo, one of the cities hardest hit by COVID-19, showing football’s support for the local community and honouring the victims of the pandemic with a visit from a FIGC delegation to the Monumental Cemetery. The Azzurri have played three matches in Bergamo in total, remaining unbeaten with two draws (another 1-1 stalemate in a friendly against Türkiye in November 2006) and a 5-0 win over Malta in January 1987. Meanwhile, the upcoming match against Israel will be Italy’s first ever in Debrecen.

GROUP SITUATION. Italy and Estonia sit level on three points in third place in Group I, behind Norway, who top the table with a full twelve points (+11 goal difference), and Israel in second with six. The Azzurri – beaten 3-0 by Norway in Oslo before a 2-0 win over Moldova in Reggio Emilia in their first two matches in June – have played two fewer games than Norway and Estonia, and one fewer than Israel and bottom-placed Moldova, who are still waiting for their first point. The group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the runners-up will have to try to secure a spot in the finals through the play-offs.