Italy go into Italy vs Türkiye with a radically changed side, with Roberto Mancini making nine changes from the draw with France. Only Gianluigi Donnarumma and Alessandro Bastoni keep their places, while Nicolò Barella returns to the XI and Samuele Inacio is on the bench for the first time under Mancini.
Vincenzo Montella summed up the mood from the other dugout when he told Sky Sport Italia, in comments translated from Italian: "Italy has regained stability and compactness".
Italy's new starting line-up
The shape is a 4-3-3, with Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Ruggeri; Barella, Romano, Doumbia; Vergara, Scamacca, Maldini. That is a heavy reset, not just a few tweaks around the edges.
The retained starters callout is the clearest sign of how far the side has been turned over. Italy are keeping just 2 starters from the France draw, and Bastoni remains in the team after also contributing 2 goals in 2 appearances in the 2026 UEFA Nations League.
Türkiye's setup and the recent backdrop
Türkiye have gone with a 5-4-1, a more defensive shape than Italy's front-foot 4-3-3. Cakir starts behind Celik, Elmali, Kabak, Bardacki and Kadioglu, with Akgun, Yuksek, Ozcan, Khaveci and Simsir ahead of him.
The broader context is still decent for Italy. They drew 1-1 with France in their last match, and before that beat Türkiye 4-1 in Bursa on 28 September 2026. In their last five matches, Italy have one win, one draw and three defeats, so the reshuffle comes after mixed results rather than a collapse.
The match is in Bologna with kick-off at 20.45, and the team sheet makes the selection story bigger than the fixture itself.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
