ROME: Italy coach Roberto Mancini on Friday called up 34 players, nine for the first time, for the opening four games of his second stint in charge of the Azzurri.

Mancini succeeded Gennaro Gattuso, who resigned as Italy coach after their World Cup qualification play-off loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in March.

The 61-year-old Mancini was previously Italy boss from 2018 until 2023, leading them to the Euro 2020 title.

He opens his reign with four Nations League Group A1 games in 11 days.

After hosting Belgium in Rome on Sept 25, Italy face Turkey in Bursa three days later, France at the Stade de France on Oct 2 and host Turkey in Bologna on Oct 5.

The nine first-timers announced on Friday are goalkeeper Massimo Pessina of Bologna, defenders Daniele Ghilardi of Roma, Michael Kayode of Brentford, Eddy Kouadio of Monza, midfielders Alessandro Romano of Cagliari and Issa Doumbia of Sporting Lisbon, forwards Sebastiano Esposito of Sassuolo, Antonio Vergara of Napoli and Mohamed Ali Zoma of Nuremberg.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Massimo Pessina, Guglielmo Vicario; Defenders: Honest Ahanor, Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori, Diego Coppola, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Federico Dimarco, Daniele Ghilardi, Michael Kayode, Eddy Kouadio, Gianluca Mancini, Giorgio Scalvini; Midfielders: Nicolo Barella, Bryan Cristante, Issa Doumbia, Nicolo Fagioli, Davide Frattesi, Rolando Mandragora, Alessandro Romano, Sandro Tonali; Forwards: Nicolo Cambiaghi, Francesco Pio Esposito, Sebastiano Esposito, Samuele Inacio, Moise Kean, Daniel Maldini, Giacomo Raspadori, Gianluca Scamacca, Antonio Vergara, Nicolo Zaniolo, Mohamed Al Zoma.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2026