National team, 27 players called up for Moldova and Norway: Caprile is new

Rome, 7 Nov. (LaPresse) – The national team has its last two matches in the World Cup qualifying group, playing Moldova in Chisinau on Thursday, 13 November, and concluding its Group I campaign at home against Norway in Milan on Sunday, 16 November. After a false start last June in Oslo, the Azzurri have racked up five consecutive wins, securing qualification for the play-offs with two games to spare. There is still a remote chance of finishing top of the group and securing a place at the World Cup, but in addition to winning the next two games, the national team would need to achieve a miraculous overtaking of the current leaders in goal difference (Norway +26, Italy +10) or hope for a misstep by Haaland and his teammates on 13 November in their home match against Estonia. Coach Gennaro Gattuso has called up 27 players for the training camp scheduled for Monday 10th November at the Federal Technical Centre in Coverciano: Cagliari goalkeeper Elia Caprile has been called up to the senior national team for the first time, while Alessandro Buongiorno and Samuele Ricci, absent since March 2025 and last June respectively, are back in the Azzurri squad. Gianluca Scamacca also returns to the squad, having already been called up by Gattuso in September but forced to leave the training camp before the match against Estonia in Bergamo as he had not fully recovered from the injury he had when he arrived in Coverciano. Nicolò Barella, who was booked on 14 October in the match against Israel, will miss the match against Moldova due to suspension. Three Azzurri players are on a warning: Andrea Cambiaso, Davide Frattesi and Sandro Tonali.