Roberto Mancini’s Italy have used 23 of their 28 available outfield players during the September-October international break, leaving five members of the original squad still waiting for their first opportunity.
The Azzurri have played three matches in their 2026-27 Nations League campaign, recovering from a 2-0 home defeat by Belgium with a 4-1 victory away to Turkey and a 1-1 draw away to Zinedine Zidane’s France.
Mancini initially selected 34 players for the international window, but that number fell to 32 after Nicolo Zaniolo and Giacomo Raspadori withdrew with injuries and were not replaced.
Federico Dimarco and Bryan Cristante also left the camp at the start of the break. Matteo Ruggeri and Samuele Ricci were called up as their replacements.
Of the 32 players currently available, 28 are outfield players. Five of those have yet to feature: Roma defender Daniele Ghilardi, Monza loanee Eddy Kouadio, Como midfielder Ricci, Fiorentina midfielder Rolando Mandragora and Borussia Dortmund forward Samuele Inacio.
Inacio still waiting for opportunity
Inacio has attracted particular attention among sections of the Italy support. Although he made his first and only appearance for the Azzurri under Silvio Baldini in June, that match was a friendly.
As a result, the 18-year-old remains technically eligible to play senior international football for Brazil, the country of his father’s birth.
Inacio has not been included in any of Italy’s last three matchday squads. However, he could still feature when Italy play Turkey in their final Nations League match of the international break on Monday.
Mancini was recently asked why he had left the Borussia Dortmund forward out of the previous three games.
“He’s a young player who still needs to develop,” said Mancini.
“He’s 18. It takes time. He has to start training with us and build experience. Even if he’s at Borussia Dortmund, he hasn’t played much. We know his quality; he’ll surely be an important player for the national team, but he’s very young, so we need to give him time and let him understand what he can do.”
The current camp is part of Mancini’s second spell in charge of Italy. Despite the poor opening result against Belgium, the team have responded with an away win and a draw against France as the manager’s latest rebuild begins to gather momentum.