Seven Lazio players will leave Formello in the coming days to represent their respective nations in the first international break of the season.
Mattia Zaccagni & Nicolo Rovella Earn Italy Spots
Club captain Mattia Zaccagni has made his return to the Italian national team. After being considered ill-suited for Luciano Spalletti’s 3-4-2-1 system, the 30-year-old has been immediately brought back by new Azzurri boss Gennaro Gattuso, who intends to rely on wingers.
📋💙 La lista dei 28 convocati del Ct Gennaro Gattuso per le prossime sfide di qualificazione al Mondiale 🙌🏻
👉🏻 https://t.co/CnCHQxRXLT#Nazionale 🇮🇹 #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/UFSKLXjBrP
— Nazionale Italiana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri) August 29, 2025
Nicolo Rovella has also been selected, perhaps at the expense of Milan’s new signing, Samuele Ricci. The four-time world champions will be looking to bounce back by securing their first two wins in the World Cup qualifiers. They will host Estonia in Bergamo on Friday, and then take on Israel three days later in Hungary.
The Rest of the International Call-Ups
Another three Lazio players will take part in the European WC qualifiers, namely Christos Mandas (Greece), Elseid Hysaj (Albania), and Adam Marusic (Montenegro). On the other hand, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Boulaye Dia will respectively represent Nigeria and Senegal in the African section of the qualifiers.
Negative Sign for Lazio
As Il Messaggero notes, Maurizio Sarri will be pleased to have the bulk of his squad at his disposal during the break, which would allow him to work on improving the tactical aspect.
However, the lack of international call-ups is anything but a positive indicator, as the likes of Nuno Tavares, Mario Gila, Matteo Guendouzi and Taty Castellanos were all overlooked by their national team managers, especially after the disappointing showing against Como on the opening day of the season.
