Italy’s shirt has usually been the reward for a player already established in Serie A, yet the national side has repeatedly made room for footballers whose domestic top-flight story was still unwritten. From Massimo Maccarone’s unexpected call at the start of the century to Mohamed Alì Zoma’s appearance this autumn, the Azzurri have offered a different route into the international game.
A route outside the usual Serie A path
The first case of the new millennium was Maccarone. The Piedmontese striker was impressing for Empoli in Serie B when Giovanni Trapattoni selected him in March 2002 for a friendly against England. He was called again that October for a European Championship qualifier against Wales.
Those remained Maccarone’s only two senior Italy appearances. His Serie A debut arrived later, in September 2004 with Parma, after a spell in the Premier League at Middlesbrough.
- Marco Verratti made his Italy debut in August 2012 against England, shortly after leaving Pescara for Paris Saint-Germain.
- The midfielder, born in 1992, has never played in Serie A, having built his club career in France and Qatar.
- He nevertheless became a long-standing Italy regular and won Euro 2021 under Roberto Mancini.
- Vincenzo Grifo is another player without a Serie A appearance, having spent his career in German football.
- Mancini handed Grifo his first cap in a 2018 friendly against the United States while he was at Hoffenheim.
- The Freiburg player had scored four goals in nine Italy appearances by March 2023, but has not been selected since then.
The June 2022 intake and delayed league debuts
June 2022 produced several examples of players reaching the senior national team before making their first Serie A appearance. Mancini used that period to introduce young talent, with Nations League fixtures providing an opening for players then developing outside the division.
- Wilfried Gnonto, then 18 and playing for Zurich in Switzerland, came on late against Germany on 4 June 2022 after progressing through Italy’s youth teams. The 2003-born forward has since made 13 senior appearances. His Serie A debut did not come until September 2026, following a loan move to Fiorentina.
- Alessio Zerbin played his only Italy match against Hungary on 7 June 2022. He had just completed a strong Serie B campaign with Frosinone, the club he has now rejoined, before making his Serie A bow for Napoli in August 2022.
- Federico Gatti made his Italy debut against England on 11 June 2022, while still connected to Frosinone. The defender, born in 1998, has collected eight caps and entered Serie A in August 2022 after joining Juventus.
- Salvatore Esposito also made his lone Italy appearance on the day of Gatti’s debut. Then at SPAL in Serie B, he had to wait until January 2023, with Spezia, for his first Serie A outing. He is now in Serie B with Sampdoria.
Esposito’s younger brothers, Sebastiano and Francesco Pio, are currently involved with Italy and are regarded by Mancini as players of considerable promise, while Salvatore’s own international opportunity remains a single appearance.
Retegui and Zoma extend the list
Mateo Retegui’s Italy story began before he had set foot in Serie A. The Argentina-born forward was playing for Tigre when he received Italian citizenship and made his first Azzurri appearance against England on 23 March 2023 in European Championship qualifying.
Retegui has gone on to register 28 Italy appearances, but his first match in the Italian top division came only in August 2023, after his transfer to Genoa.
The newest name in this particular group is Mohamed Alì Zoma. The second striker, born in 2003, entered late in Italy’s Nations League defeat to Belgium in Rome on 25 September 2026. He plays in Germany’s second tier for Nuremberg and, in Italy, has featured only for Albinoleffe in Serie C. Serie A remains an untouched stage for him.
A rebuilding squad after World Cup disappointment
The list grew again in June 2026, when interim coach Silvio Baldini assembled an intentionally youthful squad for friendlies against Luxembourg and Greece. The matches followed March’s failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, and nine players made their senior Italy debuts in a heavily reshaped group.
- Samuele Inacio
- Filippo Mané
- Luigi Cherubini
- Fabio Chiarodia
- Giacomo Faticanti
- Luca Reggiani
- Costantino Favasuli
- Matteo Dagasso
- Luca Koleosho
Inacio is also among those selected by Mancini for the forthcoming match against Turkey. Their presence underlines an Italy set-up willing, when circumstance and renewal demand it, to look beyond Serie A’s established names rather than wait for every prospect to complete the conventional domestic journey.
