Italy’s final two group games await in the Nations League: the Azzurri will face Belgium at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on Thursday 14 November, after which they’ll host France at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan on Sunday 17 November. Currently top of League A Group 2 with one more point than the French and a six-point advantage over the Red Devils, Luciano Spalletti’s men only need a point from the next two matches to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition.

The Italy Head Coach, a new inductee into the Italian football Hall of Fame, has named a 23-man squad, with Fiorentina defender Pietro Comuzzo, Juventus defender Nicolò Savona and Lazio Midfielder Nicolò Rovella all earning their first senior call-ups. Nicolò Barella, who has been absent since the European Championship, is set to make his return.

The team will gather in the evening on Sunday at Coverciano, where they’ll train until the morning of Wednesday 13 November before departing for Brussels. The day after their clash with Belgium, the Azzurri will head to Milan to prepare for their match against France at the Angelo Moratti Sports Centre in Appiano Gentile.

SQUAD LIST

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Caleb Okoli (Leicester), Nicolò Savona (Juventus), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Forwards: Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Monza), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta).

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS AGAINST BELGIUM AND FRANCE. A month after their 2-2 draw at the Stadio Olimpico, Italy and Belgium are now set to face each other in Brussels nine years on from when they last did so in November 2015 (a 3-1 friendly victory for the Red Devils), a match which coincided with the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Heysel Stadium disaster. The Azzurri have a good overall record against the Belgians: 16 wins, five draws and four defeats (five wins and three defeats in Belgium). In the first encounter between the sides on 1 May 1913, Italy fielded nine Pro Vercelli players, a record that was only broken in 1947 when ten Grande Torino players took to the pitch.

On Sunday 17 November, Milan will stage the clash between Italy and France, as was the case 114 years ago when the Azzurri beat the French in their first-ever fixture (15 May 1910). In what will be Italy’s 62nd match in the Lombardy capital (49th at San Siro/the Meazza), the two teams are set to meet for the 41st time (fourth time in Milan): Italy have 19 wins to their name compared to France’s eleven, with ten draws completing the picture. It’s a real classic that has taken place five times at the World Cup (including the 2006 final), with the sides also meeting in the EURO 2000 final.

THE NEW FORMAT OF THE NATIONS LEAGUE

Unlike the previous edition, where the top-ranked team qualified directly for the Final Four, this time the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage. In March 2025, they will play the quarter-finals (home and away). The winners of these matches will secure their place in the Finals, set to take place in June 2025 at the venue of one of the four finalists. The team finishing fourth in the group will be relegated to League B, while, in another new twist, the third-placed team will enter a play-off to avoid relegation against one of the second-placed teams from League B. The finalists will also earn a spot in the play-offs for the 2026 World Cup. 

Results and standings in League A Group 2 of the Nations League

Matchday 1 (6 September)
Belgium 3-1 Israel
France 1-3 Italy

Matchday 2 (9 September)
Israel 1-2 Italy
France 2-0 Belgium

Matchday 3 (10 October)
Italy 2-2 Belgium
Israel 1-4 France

Matchday 4 (14 October)
Italy 4-1 Israel
Belgium 1-2 France

Matchday 5 (14 November)
Belgium vs. Italy (20:45 CET - King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels)
France vs. Israel (20:45 CET - Stade de France, Saint-Denis)

Matchday 6 (17 November)
Italy vs. France (20:45 CET - Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan)
Israel vs. Belgium (20:45 CET - Bozsik Aréna, Budapest)

Standings:

1. Italy: 10 points
2. France: 9 points
3. Belgium: 4 points
4. Israel: 0 points

The top two teams will qualify for the quarter-finals. The third-placed team will enter a play-off to avoid relegation against one of the second-placed teams from League B, while the fourth-placed team will be relegated to League B.