Federico Chiesa has been excluded from the Italy squad preparing for the European playoff semi-final for the 2026 FIFA World Cup against Northern Ireland due to not being ready to play, the Italian Football Federation announced on Monday. In its statement, the local federation said the Liverpool striker "was not approved to play in the next two matches", referring to the match against Northern Ireland in the playoff semi-final, and then, if victorious, against Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina next week. Italy will face their Northern Irish counterparts on the Atalanta stadium pitch in Bergamo, hoping to keep their hopes of grabbing one of the qualifying tickets for the World Cup and avoiding a third consecutive absence from the finals. The Italian Federation did not specify the nature of the injury to the 28-year-old, which is an additional setback for the player's career, who was once considered one of Italy's top talents. Chiesa, who usually comes off the bench for Liverpool, was one of the stars of the 'Azzurri' during their Euro 2020 triumph, but has not played for the national team since the disappointing campaign at Euro 2024. Bologna striker Nicolo Cambiaggio has been called up to the squad in place of Chiesa, while defender Alessandro Bastoni and Atalanta striker Gianluca Scamacca are aiming to recover quickly to be available for the Thursday match.
