Luciano Spalletti is expected to change Italy’s line-up against France, replacing eight starters following their defeat to Switzerland at EURO 2024.

Italy returns to the pitch two months after their shameful elimination in the round of 16 of EURO 2024. Tonight, the country plays a visit to France at the Parc des Princes.

The Azzurri CT have admitted their mistakes and said during a pre-match press conference on Friday that the match against Les Blues is the beginning of a new era for the Azzurri.

The Italian squad for the Nations League matches against France and Israel in September will not include eight players participating in EURO 2024.

Among them are the injured Gianluca Scamacca and Nicolò Barella and new Liverpool signing Federico Chiesa, who has been training separately with Juventus all summer in anticipation of a transfer.

There will be further changes tonight as Spalletti switches permanently to a three-man defence and will rotate eight starters following the defeat to Switzerland. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Gigio Donnarumma and Alessandro Bastoni are expected to start again, while the rest of the team will rotate.

Italy undergoes complete transformation as Spalletti replaces 8 starters after Euro 2017 elimination

Riccardo Calafiori was suspended for one match during the European Championship against Switzerland and will likely start in central defence tonight alongside Bastoni and Di Lorenzo.

After returning from a betting ban, Sandro Tonali will play his first international match since September 2023, along with Samuele Ricci and Davide Frattesi. Ricci and Tonali were not included in Italy’s EURO 2024 squad, despite the Torino midfielder being included in the provisional squad last summer.

Italy starting XI against Switzerland (4-4-2): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Darmian; Cristante, Fagioli, Barella; Chiesa, Scamacca, El Shaarawy.

Italy probable XI vs. France (3-5-2): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori; Bellanova, Frattesi, Ricci, Tonali, Dimarco; Retegui, Raspadori