Roberto Mancini returns as Italy head coach but can the Azzurri recover from lowest ebb with a youth-inspired revolution? | Football News

This year, Italian football fell to its lowest ebb. In Europe, no Italian club made it past the quarter-finals – while Atalanta were the only Serie A side to reach the Champions League last 16. But that was nothing compared to the national team.

Italy did not qualify for the third World Cup in a row. An unthinkable prospect given they have won the competition four times.

The first two failures to qualify were masked over by the Euro 2020 triumph at Wembley. That at least gave the nation hope.

The third World Cup failure was one last straw. A 48-team World Cup did not include Italy. It brought about the resignations of not just head coach Gennaro Gattuso, but also Italian FA president Gabriele Gravina and Gianluigi Buffon as the team’s head of delegation.

“It’s a sensitive subject that affects me a lot, because not qualifying for three World Cups in a row is tough, and Italy certainly doesn’t deserve that,” Italy captain Gianluigi Donnarumma tells Sky Sports.

Now Italy have gone back to the future. Roberto Mancini, the manager who won the Euros five years ago, is back at the helm.

“We have to work. The only way forward is to work,” adds Donnarumma. “There has now been a change of coach, the return of Mr Mancini – and the objective is to work and try to take Italy back to where it deserves to be.

“I know it’s not easy for the fans, but especially for us, because only we know how much it means to us to play in a competition like the World Cup.

“So we’ll give everything to bring Italy back to where it deserves to be. We have a great responsibility because history says that Italy should always be there. History has taught us that. So we have to bring Italy back to where it belongs.”

Yes, Italy belongs at the top table. But it has been far off the level for some time. The latest World Cup disaster was the latest in a long line of slippery slopes since they reached the top of the world in 2006.

Twenty years later, that penalty shoot-out win over France is still Italy’s last appearance in a World Cup knockout game. They have just won just one World Cup match since then – the 2-1 victory over England in Brazil 2014.

Yes, there was the successful European Championships campaign of 2012 that saw Italy reach the final. But since those days, Italy have not been the same. And there are multiple reasons for it.

Italy have not been able to replicate the world-class talent they once possessed. The World Cup-winning side of 20 years ago had the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Gattuso and Alessandro Del Piero.

Six years later in 2012, that generation still lived on through Buffon, Daniele De Rossi, and Andrea Pirlo. But since the retirement of stalwarts Giorgio Chiellini and Leandro Bonucci, the next generation of Italian football has been lost.

According to the CIES Football Observatory, between 2020 and 2025, Italy produced just 413 football exports. It ranked 24th in the world, behind the United States, Japan and Russia.

The other four nations in Europe’s big five leagues all managed over 1,000 players in the same category. Italy’s players – young or old – are just not as fancied by Europe’s elite.

The lack of quality coming from the Italian ranks could also be seen in the national team. Between June 2025 and February 2026, only one capped player for the national team was under the age of 24 – Inter’s young forward Pio Esposito. England managed a dozen in the same period.

In 2025, Italy also gave 1.9 per cent of their Serie A minutes to eligible players under the age of 21. That was the second-lowest out of the top 50 leagues in world football. Only the United Arab Emirates Pro League managed fewer.

It also contributed to a weaker Serie A last season. Veteran players Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric and Jamie Vardy were among the high-profile signings. And there was a similar lack of creativity amongst the managers too.

The likes of Antonio Conte, Max Allegri, Gattuso, Luciano Spalletti and Maurizio Sarri have all been passed around the top Italian clubs without much variation. Even this summer, Sarri moved to Atalanta, while Allegri joined Juventus.

Cesc Fabregas’ Como revolution – resulting in their Champions League qualification earlier this year – is exactly what can happen when tactical ideas emerge from outside that never-ending cycle. Ruben Amorim has also turned up at AC Milan and played some eye-catching football with the Rossoneri.

But there are some signs that times could be changing for Italy. Mancini’s first Italy squad back contained a few positive surprises. A 34-player roster included nine uncapped players – and 11 players under the age of 23.

That includes Borussia Dortmund’s 18-year-old striker Samuele Inacio, Chelsea-bound defender Honest Ahanor, now at Crystal Palace. Brentford’s Michael Kayode is among the new ‘young revolution’.

As well as Inacio and highly-rated Inter forward Esposito – who has five goals in nine Italy caps – there is also FC Nurnberg’s Ali Zoma who has 20 goals in 36 appearances in the German second division. Midfielder Issa Doumbia is also a key player at Sporting CP this season.

There’s a new generation of young Italian stars.

“There will certainly be some established players. We’re getting older, but we’re still young, and there will also be some very young players joining the team,” says Donnarumma.

“So it will be a mixture, and we need to help these young players integrate well. They can give us a great deal of help.

“They’re certainly talented players who need to play and gain experience, but I’m sure Italy will return to where it belongs.”

Italy have a very tricky Nations League group, with Belgium, Turkey and France competing in a very competitive Group A.

But a nation who has been lingering in the dark for so long needs just one spark.

Watch The World Football Show this Thursday on Sky Sports News to see more analysis of Italy’s recent plight and a preview of Roberto Mancini’s second spell at 2pm