Fagioli handed Italy no.10 shirt as Mancini confirms squad numbers for France

The squad numbers for Italy's upcoming Nations League test away against France have been confirmed, as Fiorentina's Nicolo Fagioli takes over the prestigious no.10 shirt following Giacomo Raspadori's withdrawal from the squad.

Roberto Mancini faces the toughest test yet of his second spell in charge of the Italy national team, away against France at the Stade de France in what will be Zinedine Zidane's first home match in charge of Les Bleues. Kick-off is due at 19.45 BST.

Italy are coming in off the back of a 2-0 defeat at home against Belgium and a morale-boosting 4-1 win away against Turkey on Monday evening. France have beaten both Turkey and France 1-0 away from home in the September-October international break.

Francesco Pio Esposito celebrates with his brother Sebastiano Esposito during Turkiye vs. Italy in the Nations League (@azzurri)

As this is a competitive, Nations League fixture, Mancini has had to cut his list of players down to a matchday squad of 23 , leaving Massimo Pessina, Diego Coppola, Daniele Ghilardi, Eddy Koaudio, Alessandro Romano, Rolando Mandragora, Nicolo Cambiaghi and Samuele Inacio at Coverciano for this one.

Honest Ahanor was also cut from the squad ahead of the France match and has instead been made available to Silvio Baldini and the Italy U21s ahead of a crucial European Championship qualifier against Poland on Monday night.

Nicolo Zaniolo and Giacomo Raspadori have also left the squad through injury and have not been replaced.

Federico Dimarco and Bryan Cristante withdrew from the squad at the beginning of the international break and were replaced by Matteo Ruggeri and Samuele Ricci, who could both be involved against France on Friday.

BURSA, TURKEY – SEPTEMBER 28: Michael Kayode of Italy celebrates scoring his team's third goal with teammate Sandro Tonali during the UEFA Nations League 2026/27 group phase match between Türkiye and Italy at Atatürk Spor Kompleksi Matli Stadyumu on September 28, 2026 in Bursa, Turkey. (Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)

Pre-match reports indicate that it will be a 4-3-3 featuring Michael Kayode and Riccardo Calafiori at full-back with Alessandro Bastoni and either Giorgio Scalvini or Gianluca Mancini at centre-back.

Three out of Sandro Tonali, Nicolo Barella, Davide Frattesi and Nicolo Fagioli are expected to start, although the fact that Fagioli has been handed Italy's no.10 shirt in the absence of Raspadori might be a clue that he will be given the nod.

The two Esposito brothers, Pio and Sebastiano, are in line to start in attack, along with either Daniel Maldini or Antonio Vergara according to the latest reports across Italy.

Below are the matchday squad numbers for Friday's Nations League clash against France.

BURSA, TURKEY – SEPTEMBER 28: Alessandro Bastoni of Italy celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammates during the UEFA Nations League 2026/27 group phase match between Türkiye and Italy at Atatürk Spor Kompleksi Matli Stadyumu on September 28, 2026 in Bursa, Turkey. (Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)