Italy add Fortini and increase 25-man squad for Luxembourg and Greece friendly tests
CREMONA, ITALY – OCTOBER 14: Niccolò Fortini of Italy and Artur Askaryan of Armenia fight for the ball during the UEFA Euro U21 Qualification match between Italy and Armenia at Stadio Giovanni Zini on October 14, 2025 in Cremona, Italy. (Photo by Marco M. Mantovani/Getty Images)
Italy will bring Fiorentina defender Niccolò Fortini with the squad throughout their friendly matches against Luxembourg and Greece.
It is a late addition for the Nazionale, who are set to fly out to Luxembourg on Tuesday afternoon to prepare for the game on Wednesday evening.
They then return to Florence and the Coverciano training camo, before the trip to Greece on Sunday night.
Italy testing new players
Interim coach Silvio Baldini, promoted from the Under-21 bench as the senior squad currently is without a CT following Gennaro Gattuso’s resignation, had named a 24-man squad.
He also added another four players to train with them at Coverciano last week, namely Tommaso Berti of Cesena, Fiorentina’s Fortini, Gabriele Guarino of Empoli and Atalanta player Dominic Vavassori.
It was today announced that Fortini would remain with the squad and travel to the two friendly matches, so the group is expanded to 25 names.
Many of them are uncapped, as Baldini felt it was better to give an opportunity to new faces at the end of a tough season where the Nazionale failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Italy squad for Luxembourg and Greece
Goalkeepers: Giovanni Daffara (Avellino), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Lorenzo Palmisani (Frosinone)
Defenders: Honest Ahanor (Atalanta), Davide Bartesaghi (Milan), Fabio Chiarodia (Borussia Monchengladbach), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Costantino Favasuli (Catanzaro), Niccolò Fortini (Fiorentina), Filippo Mane (Borussia Dortmund), Marco Palestra (Cagliari), Luca Reggiani (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Tommaso Berti (Cesena), Matteo Dagasso (Venezia), Giacomo Faticanti (Juventus), Luca Lipani (Sassuolo), Cher Ndour (Fiorentina), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma)
Forwards: Francesco Camarda (Lecce), Luigi Cherubini (Sampdoria), Jeff Ekhator (Genoa), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Seydou Fini (Frosinone), Samuele Inacio (Borussia Dortmund), Luca Koleosho (Paris FC)
