Mancini drops 10 Italy players for Belgium clash

Aside from the suspended Alessandro Bastoni, ten more Italy players won’t be available for tonight’s Nations League game against Belgium, including Nicolò Zaniolo and Antonio Vergara.

Roberto Mancini’s Italy host Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome this evening in the opening game of the 2026-27 Nations League.

10 Italy players plus suspended Bastoni not called up for Belgium

Inter star Bastoni is suspended after he was sent off in the Azzurri’s previous competitive match, the painful World Cup play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina in March.

Bastoni has been called up for this break, but will miss tonight’s match. As reported by Sport Mediaset, Mancini has dropped ten more players for the Belgium clash: Massimo Pessina, Daniele Ghilardi, Eddy Kouadio, Matteo Ruggeri, Samuele Ricci, Nicolò Fagioli, Samuele Inacio, Zaniolo, Vergara and Sebastiano Esposito.

The full Italy squad for this break includes 34 players, but only 23 are eligible for each game.

After the game against Belgium, Italy will visit Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey next Monday, then visit France on October 2 and host Turkey in Bologna on October 5.