Italy’s difficult period shows no sign of ending.
Just six months after failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the four-time world champions were beaten 2-0 at home by Belgium in their Nations League opener on Friday.
The defeat was Italy’s first match since their painful playoff loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in March, and the Azzurri once again looked short of confidence and consistency.
Roberto Mancini was back on the Italy bench, three years after leaving the national team to take charge of Saudi Arabia. The 61-year-old, who guided Italy to European Championship glory in 2021, cut a frustrated figure as his side struggled to find a way through a disciplined Belgium team.
For Belgium, meanwhile, the night marked an encouraging start under new coach Mark van Bommel. The former Netherlands international was appointed following Rudi Garcia’s departure after the World Cup.
The atmosphere inside Rome’s Stadio Olimpico quickly turned tense. Only 47,155 supporters attended the 70,000-capacity stadium, and frustration from the home crowd was already evident after just 20 minutes.
That was when Mika Godts gave Belgium the lead.
The move began with Kevin De Bruyne, who was making his 125th appearance for Belgium. The experienced midfielder found Godts on the left, allowing the youngster to cut inside and take on three Italian defenders before calmly beating Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Godts, who recently completed a move to Paris Saint-Germain, showed impressive composure as he turned Gianluca Mancini and escaped a late challenge from Diego Coppola.
Coppola had been brought into the starting XI because Alessandro Bastoni was suspended following his red card in Italy’s playoff defeat to Bosnia.
Italy’s problems were also self-inflicted. The counterattack that produced Belgium’s opener started with a misplaced pass from Alessandro Romano, who was making his international debut after switching allegiance from Switzerland.
Belgium continued to threaten on the break after the interval and eventually doubled their advantage midway through the second half.
Dodi Lukebakio collected the ball outside the penalty area and fired beyond Donnarumma, despite a desperate attempt from Sandro Tonali to recover and prevent the shot.
Mancini had selected a starting lineup featuring eight players who had regularly appeared during Italy’s World Cup qualifying campaign. However, the familiarity of the squad did little to produce the performance the home supporters wanted.
The result adds further pressure to an Italy side still searching for answers after another major tournament setback.
Mancini’s return was always going to attract attention. He left the Italy job in August 2023, despite having previously delivered one of the country’s most memorable triumphs by winning Euro 2020, before taking over as Saudi Arabia coach shortly afterward.
Now, he faces another demanding challenge as Italy attempts to rebuild.
There will be little time to recover from Friday’s disappointment. Italy travel to Türkiye on Monday before facing France next Friday, with a return fixture against Türkiye in Bologna completing the first phase of their Nations League campaign.
After another disappointing night in Rome, the Azzurri have plenty of work to do.
