UEFA assigns Szymon Marciniak to referee Nations League match between Italy and Turkey

Match appointment and officiating team

UEFA has named 45-year-old Polish referee Szymon Marciniak as the lead official for the upcoming UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1 match between Italy and Turkey. The match is scheduled to take place on Monday, 5 October 2026, with kick-off set for 20:45 local time at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara in Bologna. Marciniak, who hails from Płock, will be accompanied by an experienced officiating crew. Polish assistant referees Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik will serve on the sidelines, while Karol Arys has been appointed as the fourth official. The video assistant referee duties have been assigned to Piotr Lasyk, who will be assisted by Swiss video official Lukas Fahndrich. According to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, this fixture marks the fourth time in Marciniak's career that he has officiated a match involving the Italian national team.

Group 1 competitive stakes

The upcoming round 4 fixture carries direct implications for the standings in Division A Group 1. Following three rounds of play, France leads the group table with seven points, closely followed by Belgium in second place with six points. Italy currently sits in third position with five points, remaining within touching distance of qualification for the tournament's next stage. Turkey occupies fourth place with zero points after losing all three of their opening fixtures. A defeat in Bologna would leave the Turkish national team with a maximum possible tally of six points from their remaining matches. The two teams previously met on 28 September, when Italy secured a 4:1 away victory over Turkey. Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Frattesi, Michael Kayode, and Francesco Pio Esposito scored for Italy in that fixture, while Barış Alper Yılmaz scored the lone goal for Turkey.

Marciniak's 2026–2027 season workload

The Bologna assignment represents Marciniak's second UEFA Nations League fixture of the 2026–2027 campaign. On 27 September, he took charge of a Division A encounter in Belgrade between Serbia and the Netherlands, which concluded in a 1:2 victory for the Dutch side alongside the same core Polish officiating crew of Listkiewicz, Kupsik, Arys, and Lasyk. At the club level, Marciniak has also overseen top-tier European fixtures this season, including the UEFA Champions League league-phase meeting between FC Porto and Manchester City, following earlier qualifying-round matches in the competition. These assignments follow his appearances at the highest level of international football, having previously officiated the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar and the 2023 UEFA Champions League final, in addition to being selected among the referees for the 2026 FIFA World Cup across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Parallel international schedule

The fixture in Bologna coincides with a busy international schedule across Europe on 5 October. On the same evening, the Polish national team will play a Division B return fixture against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The clash at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara forms part of matchday 4, where Italy seeks to close the gap on group leaders France and Belgium while Turkey fights to secure its first points of the campaign.