For the second time in its history, Italy will be involved in the Nations League Finals, the final stage of Europe's newest competition in international football. After finishing third in 2021, facing the Azzurri once again is Spain (15 June in Enschede), in what will be the two sides' third semi-final meeting, after EURO 2020 and the 2021 Nations League. Meanwhile, The Netherlands, hosting the Finals, will take on Croatia the following day in Rotterdam.

Preparations will get underway on Sunday evening, following the last day of the Serie A season, with the squad meeting up in Rome. They will then move onto the 'Forte Village Resort’ in Santa Margherita di Pula (Cagliari) the next day for a rest and recovery period after a long and hectic season. Just as they did ahead of EURO 2020, the players will be joined by their respective families in the five-day stay in Sardinia and will carry out morning training sessions at the hotel's football facilities. The camp will end on Friday 9 June with a match against Cagliari's Primavera side (10:00 CEST).

For this first part of Nations League preparation, Head Coach Roberto Mancini has called up 26 players. Returning to the squad are Lazio players Mattia Zaccagni and Ciro Immobile - both absent since June and September 2022, respectively - Alessandro Florenzi and Manuel Locatelli (absent since June 2022), while Nicolò Zaniolo (not in the sqaud since November 2022) has been selected for the first time since his move from Rome to Galatasaray. There is also a first call-up for Lecce defender Federico Baschirotto, who had been part of the training camp for players of national interest in the past. As part of a Club Italia strategy vision, revolving around achieving the objectives defined, Mancini has decided not to include Giorgio Scalvini and Sandro Tonali in the squad, allowing them to be available to Coach Paolo Nicolato for the Under-21 European Championships in Georgia and Romania (21 June to 8 July), where three places for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will be up for grabs, too. Finally, players from Inter and Fiorentina have not been considered due to their commitments in the Champions League and Conference League finals, respectively.

REMEMBERING LUCA VIALLI. Before flying to Cagliari, the squad will train at the Giulio Onesti Olympic Preparation Centre (CPO) in Rome on Monday 5 June at 12:00 CEST. To mark the occasion, the Azzurri, led by FIGC President Gabriele Gravina, will take part in a ceremony to name Pitch number 3 after Gianluca Vialli, an initiative brought forth by CONI President, Giovanni Malagò; also present will be CONI's General Secretary, Carlo Mornati. There will also be 30 young patients from the ‘Bambino Gesù paediatric Hospital’, with whom the FIGC, and the National team in particular, have for years promoted a number of joint initiatives.

FROM COVERCIANO TO ENSCHEDE. After a rest day, the Azzurri group will return to Coverciano in the afternoon on Sunday 11 June. Stepping through the gates at the training centre will be the 23 players who will form the squad to take part in the Nations League. Coach Mancini will not have a lot of time available to selece his final list, with the official squad lists for the Finals needing to be submitted to UEFA by midnight on Monday 5 June, the day when they depart for Sardinia.

STAFF NEWS. There are two pieces of staff news regarding this training camp: Under-19 Head Coach, Alberto Bollini, who will lead his team at the Under-19 European Championships in July, has been added to Mancini's coaching staff. He has collaborated with Reja at Lazio and Atalanta in Serie A, folllowing two Primavera Scudetto titles (Lazio 2001 and 2012). He entered as one of the Head Coaches in Club Italia in 2019 taking charge of the Under-20 team. With him, Giuliano Bergamaschi, a Sport education specialist, has also joined the group; he is a new member in the National side setup after being part of the Men's National Volleyball team, where, together with Head Coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, he won the Euros (2021) and World Cup (2022) two years ago.

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), *Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Empoli);
Defenders: Federico Baschirotto (Lecce), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), *Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Alessandro Florenzi (Milan), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta),
Midfielders: Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Jorginho (Arsenal), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain), Nicolò Zaniolo (Galatasaray);
Forwards: Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), *Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), *Mateo Retegui (Tigre), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).

* in case of official commitments with their clubs, arrival at the training camp may be later for these players

INFO FOR MEDIA

*) Accreditation requests for activities in Roma: media representatives who wish to be part of the ceremony to name Pitch number 3 Gianluca Vialli at the Giulio Onesti CPO and the National side's training session can request accreditation, by 12:00 CEST on Thursday 1 June, through the FIGC's online accreditation system at the following address:

https://figc.getyourevent.online/

*) Accreditation requests for activities in Santa Margherita di Pula (Ca): media representatives who wish to participate at the activities scheduled at the Forte Village Resort can request accreditation by sending an email to p.corbi@figc.it

*) Accreditation requests for activities in Florence: media representatives who wish to participate at the activities scheduled at Coverciano can request accreditation from Monday 5 to Friday 9 June through the FIGC's online accreditation system at the following address:

https://figc.getyourevent.online/

It is kindly reminded that only journalists and photographers may be present during the activities at Coverciano. Cameras inside the Federal Training Centre will not be allowed (video-journalists and cameramen). The FIGC will provide and distribute audio-visual and images from: i) Press conference and ii) Daily training session. To activate this service and request photos and audio, you are invited to consult our terms and conditions published inside the Area Media / Info for Media at www.figc.it. Any further changes or updates will be communicated through official federation channels.