Mancini names 31-man Italy squad with four first-time call-ups for Nations League

Four first-time call-ups

Roberto Mancini has picked 31 players for Italy's final two Nations League group matches, against France and Belgium. Four of them are being called up to the senior side for the first time. Alphadjo Cisse, a 20-year-old from Milan, and Mattia Liberali, a 19-year-old forward at Como, are the older pair. Riccardo Cassano, a Como midfielder born in 2009, and Simone Lontani, a Parma midfielder born in 2008, are the youngest in the group. Issa Doumbia of Sporting CP is also back in the squad after having been called up before, according to SAPO.

Cassano and Lontani will not stay with the senior team for the whole camp. They are set to take part in the first part of the training camp and then join the Under-18 and Under-19 national teams in the coming days. Il Messaggero reports that Mancini wanted to watch them closely and give them a chance to show what they can do.

Riccardo Cassano

Fanpage notes that the 17-year-old Como player shares a surname with Antonio Cassano but has no family relationship with him. The same outlet says he has never made an official appearance for Como's first team, yet Como coach Cesc Fabregas has already praised him publicly. Fabregas compared him to Busquets and Pirlo, citing similarities in movement and style. Fanpage describes him as a technical midfielder who can play as a deep playmaker or a central midfielder, with quality and vision as his main strengths.

Schedule and group position

Italy sit second in Group 1 of League A on seven points, three behind leaders France and one ahead of Belgium, according to Il Messaggero. That position follows a double win over Turkey and a comeback draw in Saint-Denis against France during the September and October window. Mancini used a group of 34 players for the opening four matches, which were played within 11 days, and has now narrowed the squad to 31. Italy have already secured at least third place, which gives them a seeding for the European qualifying draw in Belfast on 6 December, per Fanpage. A top-two finish would earn a place in the quarter-finals, while the two best third-placed teams avoid play-offs, Il Messaggero adds.

Camp and fixtures

Italy's squad is regrouping after missing out on the World Cup. The players are due to gather at Coverciano on Sunday evening, 8 November. Il Messaggero reports that 57,000 tickets were issued for the France match at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan on Thursday, 12 November, with the last 3,000 still on sale.

Italy then travel to the Re Baldovino stadium in Brussels to face Belgium on Sunday, 15 November.