Italy will fly to Norway without Moise Kean, who has been ruled out of the team’s upcoming matches after straining his right thigh during yesterday’s training session. However, Luciano Spalletti, speaking on the eve of Italy’s opening match in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, isn’t looking for excuses. “Being the National Team Head Coach, you can’t talk about setbacks because you have a wide pool of players to choose from,” Spalletti told Vivo Azzurro TV. “The current problem is that some players had stopped training. We paid close attention and tried to compensate by calling up players who were still training regularly – like Rugani, who had been working with Juventus ahead of the Club World Cup. We didn’t call up players who were on holiday. Ranieri was in Italy and training. He was at home and one of the players we alerted. We only had Buongiorno for one day, while Gatti still needs a few days to be physically ready. We’re disappointed about Gabbia and Kean’s injuries – they really wanted to be here. Gabbia was devastated; it was a big opportunity for him.”

Italy will press on with those who are available: “The players have trained well and have shown they want to play this match. Your mindset plays a key role in how you perform: going in confident about competing is a good start.” The Azzurri will face a Norway side who are far more than just Haaland and have won both of their World Cup qualifiers so far. “I think Norway will try to dictate play and come at us. That’s actually what we prefer, because more spaces open up,” added Spalletti. “If we fail to move the ball around well, that’s another matter. But if we can escape their press, there will be space to counter.”

TONALI. The Azzurri are fully focused on winning in Oslo, a result that would help pave the way to the bigger objective of qualifying for the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA. Sandro Tonali’s message echoes that of Spalletti: no excuses. “Excuses are not what we need and not who we are,” said the Newcastle midfielder. “We have to go there and play our game. Every match is important, and this one has our full attention because it’s the next one. Afterwards, we’ll move on. We need to give 100% against Norway and there mustn’t be any negative thoughts, because that’s not part of the team’s mindset.”

After Norway, the focus will shift to Moldova, who Italy will face at the Stadio Città del Tricolore in Reggio Emilia on Monday 9 June. However, it’s one step at a time. “Our only goal is to qualify for the World Cup,” Tonali added. “There’s no plan B, no second chance, no other thought in our minds. This objective is fixed in our minds, and the only way to achieve it is to play and win.” At Newcastle, Tonali has already faced several of Norway’s players at club level, including Erling Haaland. “When you’re up against players like him, you need to stay focused for the full 90 minutes. Such players only need ten seconds to change a game. That’s why you can’t switch off for even a second, because otherwise things can go wrong.”

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli)
Defenders:  Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Diego Coppola (Hellas Verona), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Luca Ranieri (Fiorentina), Daniele Rugani (Juventus), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham), Davide Zappacosta (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Cesare Casadei (Torino), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Forwards: Lorenzo Lucca (Udinese), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta).