ROME, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 25:Pio Esposito of Italy compete for the ball with Nathan Ngoy during the UEFA Nations League 2026/27 group phase match between Italy and Belgium at Stadio Olimpico on September 25, 2026 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi/Getty Images)
Alessandro Bastoni returns to the Italy XI and Matteo Ruggeri is expected to make his Azzurri debut as Roberto Mancini meets his former Sampdoria teammate Vincenzo Montella in a Nations League game against Turkiye.
It kicks off at 20:45 CET [19:45 BST] at the Atatürk Spor Kompleksi in Bursa.
Both Italy and Turkiye lost their opening Nations League game on Friday. The Azzurri suffered a 2-0 home loss to Belgium, while Turkey lost 1-0 at home to France.
Italy CT Mancini has left ten players in Coverciano, including Nicolò Barella, Gianluca Mancini and Diego Coppola, who had started against Belgium last week.
Multiple sources, including Sky Sport, report that Aston Villa defender Ruggeri is expected to start as a left-back, making his first international appearance with the Azzurri, while Bastoni will return to the XI after serving a one-game ban against Belgium.
Sandro Tonali and Davide Frattesi are expected to start in central midfield, while Nicolò Fagioli challenges Issa Doumbia for the third slot.
Francesco Pio Esposito is the favourite over Moise Kean in a three-man attack, which is likely to be completed by Giacomo Raspadori and Nicolò Cambiaghi.
Turkiye vs. Italy – where to watch on TV
The match will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime in the UK and Ireland and on fuboTV and ViX in the USA. Football Italia will provide live updates via a live blog.
Turkiye vs. Italy – probable line-ups
Turkiye (3-4-2-1): Bayindir; Celik, Demiral, Bardakci; Aydin, Ozcan, Yuksek, Kadioglu; Guler, Uzun; Yilmaz.
Italy (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Kayode, Scalvini, Bastoni, Ruggeri; Frattesi, Tonali, Fagioli; Raspadori, Pio Esposito, Cambiaghi.
