ROBERTO MANCINI has been forced to axe TEN Italy stars from his matchday squad for tonight’s crunch Nations League clash with Belgium.
But the players have not been dropped from the international set-up altogether as Mancini simply named a 34-man squad for this international break and can only select 23 players for each game.
That means 11 players had to miss out against , with Inter star already unavailable after being suspended.
The defender was sent off in Italy’s previous competitive match – the painful World Cup play-off final defeat to in March.
According to Sport Mediaset , Mancini has therefore left out a further ten players, including Nicolo Zaniolo and Antonio Vergara.
Massimo Pessina, Daniele Ghilardi, Eddy Kouadio, Matteo Ruggeri, Samuele Ricci, Nicolo Fagioli, Samuele Inacio and Sebastiano Esposito are the other players to miss out.
The Azzurri host Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome this evening in their opening game of the 2026/27 .
Mancini will then have the chance to rotate his options for Italy’s remaining fixtures during the international break.
They face in Bursa on Monday before travelling to Paris to play ‘s on October 2.
then host Turkey in Bologna on October 5 as Mancini continues preparations for Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup.
The experienced boss has excellent pedigree, having won three successive titles with between 2005 and 2008.
In his next job in England, Mancini ended Manchester City’s 35-year wait for a trophy in 2011 when he won the .
He then put an end to City’s 44-year wait for a league title by guiding them to the Premier League crown in 2011/12.
But the highlight of his managerial career came in 2021, when he led Italy to European Championship glory.
The Azzurri beat England on penalties in the final at Wembley, with the late great serving as Mancini’s assistant during their memorable campaign.
Italy have endured a turbulent time at World Cup level, though, having failed to qualify for the last three tournaments.
Their hopes of reaching Russia 2018 were ended by Sweden in the play-offs, while North Macedonia stunned them in the play-offs for Qatar 2022.
Then came another painful blow in March when Bosnia and Herzegovina beat them in the play-off to deny them a place at the 2026 World Cup.
