Two and a half months after the matches played against Switzerland and Northern Ireland, the national team kicks off 2022 by meeting from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 January at Coverciano for a brief training camp in view of the World Cup qualifying playoffs taking place at the end of March.

35 players have been called up by Roberto Mancini: Mario Balotelli returns to the Azzurri after more than three years away, while goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi, defenders Luiz Felipe and Giorgio Scalvini, midfielders Nicolò Fagioli, Davide Frattesi and Samuele Ricci and forward Joao Pedro have received their first call up to the national team. Carnesecchi and Fagioli had already been called up in April 2019 for a camp reserved for youngsters. In the next few hours, players from the Azzurri group who are currently injured could be added to the list to take part in tactical work ahead of the March games.

The meeting is set for 12 noon on Wednesday 26 January at the Centro Tecnico Federale, with the coach holding a remote press conference at 13:15 before taking the first of three training sessions in the afternoon.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Cremonese), Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Genoa);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Davide Calabria (Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Mattia De Sciglio (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Alessandro Florenzi (Milan), Luiz Felipe (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Luca Pellegrini (Juventus), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolò Fagioli (Cremonese), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Samuele Ricci (Empoli), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Sandro Tonali (Milan);
Forwards: Mario Balotelli (Adana Demirspor), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Joao Pedro (Cagliari), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo), Gianluca Scamacca (Sassuolo), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma).

*Schedule

Wednesday 26 January
By 12 noon - Meeting at the CTF of Coverciano
13.15 - Coach's remote press conference
15.30 - Training (behind closed doors)
Thursday 27 January
Ore 15.30 – training (behind closed doors)
Friday 28 January
Ore 10.30 – training (behind closed doors)

*Media access prohibited. It is possible to book the press conference by sending the request to the email address stampa.cov@figc.it before 4 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday 25 January. The images of the training sessions will be produced by the FIGC and distributed to newspapers who request. For info: Massimiliano Reale (FIGC Area Sales): email: m.reale@figc.it. Tel: 06/84913023.