Italy's Hottest Soccer Players Part IV: 2026 World Cup Edition

This series started as a running joke with the guys in my office: every time I posted a list of Italian soccer players worth looking at, they demanded a list of Italian WAGs in return. Part IV was my 2010 World Cup edition, covering all 23 men Marcello Lippi took to South Africa. Now it’s the 2026 edition, with one awkward detail: Italy wasn’t at the 2026 World Cup.

>> Catch up on the series: part one, part two and part three. The women are in part one and part two of the WAGs posts.

What happened in 2026

It still hurts to type. Italy won Euro 2020 (played in 2021) and then failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup, after missing 2018 and 2022. The 2026 campaign started with a 3-0 loss in Norway in June 2025 that cost Luciano Spalletti his job. Gennaro Gattuso, the 2006 World Cup hard man, took over and steadied things, but a 4-1 home defeat to Norway in November sent Italy into the play-offs. They beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in Bergamo on 26 March 2026, with goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean. Five days later in Zenica, Kean scored early, Bosnia and Herzegovina equalized late, Alessandro Bastoni was sent off, and Italy lost the shootout 4-1.

Gattuso and federation president Gabriele Gravina both resigned. In July 2026 the new president, Giovanni Malagò, brought back Roberto Mancini, the coach who won Euro 2020, with Claudio Ranieri as technical director. Mancini’s first games are Nations League matches against Belgium, Turkey and France in late September and early October 2026. The next World Cup is in 2030.

So this is the squad of the 2026 cycle: 23 men, all of whom were called up by Italy in 2026, laid out the way I did it in 2010, by position, with their clubs as of September 2026 in parentheses. They didn’t get a World Cup. They’re still stars, and they are still, for the record, lovely to look at.

2026 Italy Goalkeepers

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City)

The captain. “Gigio” made his Serie A debut for Milan at 16, the second-youngest goalkeeper ever to do it, won Euro 2020, then moved to Paris Saint-Germain and on to Manchester City. He is widely rated among the best keepers in the world.

Guglielmo Vicario (Juventus)

From Udine, on loan at Juventus from Tottenham, where he won the 2024-25 Europa League. His reflexes earned him the nickname “Venom Vicario.” I approve.

Alex Meret (Napoli)

Another Udine native, and a two-time Serie A champion with Napoli, in 2023 and 2025. He was in the Euro 2020 squad too.

2026 Italy Defenders

Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli)

Napoli’s captain since 2022, a right-back from Castelnuovo di Garfagnana in the Tuscan hills, and a Euro 2020 winner.

Alessandro Bastoni (Inter)

One of the best center-backs in the world, known for passing like a midfielder. The red card in Zenica will follow him for a while, which is unfair to a player this good. His dad was a pro footballer too.

Federico Dimarco (Inter)

An Inter fan since childhood from the Calvairate neighborhood of Milan, now the club’s left wing-back and one of the best crossers in Europe. Two league titles with the club he grew up supporting.

Gianluca Mancini (Roma)

A center-back from Pontedera, near Pisa, whose family runs a fruit and vegetable business. No relation to the coach.

Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal)

Roman and left-footed, he made his Italy debut in June 2024 and started all three group games at Euro 2024. Arsenal paid about £33.6 million for him that summer.

Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli)

Born in Turin and a Torino fan as a kid, now a center-back at Napoli. With a surname that means “good morning,” the jokes write themselves.

Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus)

A Genoa native who plays full-back on either side for Juventus and loves to get forward.

Leonardo Spinazzola (Napoli)

From Foligno in Umbria, and one of the surviving faces of the Euro 2020-winning team. Still in the squad for the March play-offs.

2026 Italy Midfielders

Nicolò Barella (Inter)

From Cagliari, where he started out at the soccer school founded by the great Gigi Riva. Inter’s vice-captain, a relentless runner, and often named among the best midfielders in the world. He started both play-off games.

Sandro Tonali (Tottenham Hotspur)

The midfielder from Lodi who was constantly compared to a young Pirlo (another Brescia product) when he broke through. He won Serie A with Milan, became the most expensive Italian player ever when Newcastle paid about 70 million euros in 2023, and scored against Northern Ireland in the play-off semi-final. He married on Lake Como in July 2025.

Davide Frattesi (Lazio)

A Roman midfielder, on loan at Lazio from Inter, who makes a habit of arriving late in the box and scoring.

Bryan Cristante (Roma)

Roma’s captain. His Canadian father and Italian mother named him Bryan after Bryan Ferry, and he holds both passports.

Manuel Locatelli (Juventus)

Juventus captain, Euro 2020 winner, and a product of the Milan youth system. Called up for the March play-offs.

2026 Italy Forwards

Moise Kean (Como)

Born in Vercelli to Ivorian parents, raised in Asti. He scored in both play-off games, released his own rap album, Chosen, in 2024, and became the first professional footballer on an EA Sports FC soundtrack with “Bombay” in 2025. He joined Como on loan from Fiorentina in September 2026.

Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah)

Born and raised in Argentina, the son of two field hockey players, and Italian through a great-grandfather from Canicattì in Sicily. He scored twice against Israel in October 2025 and now plays in Saudi Arabia.

Pio Esposito (Inter)

Born in 2005, the youngest of three brothers who all came through Inter’s academy (Salvatore and Sebastiano are pros too). He made his Italy debut in September 2025 and scored five goals in his first nine caps. In 2025 the three brothers bought the amateur club where they first played.

Giacomo Raspadori (Atalanta)

A forward from near Bologna who, unusually for a pro, enrolled in sports science at the University of Bologna. He came home to Serie A with Atalanta in January 2026.

Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta)

A Roman striker who played for Sassuolo and West Ham before joining Atalanta.

Matteo Politano (Napoli)

A Roman right winger with Calabrian roots, and a fixture on the Napoli right.

Federico Chiesa (Liverpool)

Son of former Italy striker Enrico Chiesa, a Euro 2020 winner, and a Premier League champion in his first season at Liverpool. He was called up for the play-offs but withdrew injured.

>> Want to see them in person? Serie A (officially Serie A Enilive now) runs from August to May. Our guides cover going to a game in Italy and seeing a match at San Siro, where Inter and Milan still share the stadium.

The 2010 squad: where are they now?

This is the list I wrote five days before the 2010 World Cup started, with each player’s club at the time. Italy, the defending champions, went out in the group stage. Every one of these 23 has retired from playing, and a lot of them now coach.

Goalkeepers

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus): Italy’s No. 1 had a broody side, and I liked that. He retired in 2023, was head of the national team delegation until the 2026 play-off loss, and married journalist Ilaria D’Amico in 2024.

Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli): All I knew about him in 2010 was that every time I heard his name I thought, “Wait, he’s Italian?” He is. He has retired.

Federico Marchetti (Cagliari): Channeling a leopard with that shirt. Retired.

Defenders

Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa): Already on my third list. Retired, and now a coach.

Leonardo Bonucci (Bari): I’d never heard of him in 2010, and in this photo he was being eaten alive by sweaters. He went on to become a Juventus great and a Euro 2020 winner. Retired, he now works with Italy’s under-20s.

Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus): The 2006 captain, and on my first list. I loved that smile. He now coaches Uzbekistan’s national team.

Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus): The only shirtless photo I could find of him in 2010. He captained Italy to the Euro 2020 title, has a business degree, and since October 2025 has been Juventus’s director of football strategy.

Domenico Criscito (Genoa): Cute, but someone needed to get this kid an iron. Retired.

Christian Maggio (Napoli): A Napoli stalwart for years. Retired.

Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan): On my second list, and a 2006 world champion. Retired.

Midfielders

Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus): The one who got an impromptu ponytail-ectomy on the field after the 2006 final. Retired, and now a coach.

Daniele De Rossi (Roma): A rare Italian blond with piercing blue eyes to match. He is now head coach of Genoa.

Gennaro Gattuso (Milan): Thank you, Dolce & Gabbana, for this photo. Gattuso coached Italy from June 2025 until the play-off loss and now coaches Lazio.

Claudio Marchisio (Juventus): Fabulous eyes, and a starring role in the 2010 Dolce & Gabbana campaign (see below). Retired.

Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina): Speaking of eyes: hello, Riccardo. Retired.

Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria): I used to confuse him with Simone Pepe whenever Pepe shaved his head. Retired.

Simone Pepe (Udinese): Here doing his best Palombo impression. Retired.

Andrea Pirlo (Milan): My guy. He was injured going into the 2010 tournament, came off the bench only in the last group game against Slovakia, which Italy lost, and that was that. He retired in 2017 and coaches Dubai United in the UAE.

Forwards

Antonio Di Natale (Udinese): Doing his airplane impression, and on my second list. Retired, and now a coach.

Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina): A 2006 world champion. Retired, and he has coached in Serie A since, most recently at Pisa.

Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus): I found better photos of him, but I thought this one, of him at a computer, was adorable. Retired.

Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria): On my first list, and still all kinds of lovely. Retired.

Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli): The English press called him “Quags,” which is ugly. He is not. Retired.

The 2010 Dolce & Gabbana ads

Dolce & Gabbana has a long history of using Italian players in its underwear campaigns, and all five men in its 2010 ads made that World Cup squad: from left to right, Antonio Di Natale, Federico Marchetti, Domenico Criscito, Vincenzo Iaquinta and Claudio Marchisio. You’re welcome.