In Turkey on Monday, Italy’s starting line-up carried a rare family connection: Francesco Pio Esposito of Inter and his younger brother Sebastiano Esposito, who plays for Sassuolo, began the Azzurri’s match together. Their selection returned two brothers to Italy’s XI for the first time in 111 years.
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The Espositos are the first brothers to start an Italy match since Aldo and Luigi Cavenini faced Switzerland in 1915. That remarkable earlier fixture ended in a 9-4 Italy victory, with both Cavenini brothers on the scoresheet.
Italy had seen brothers share the field more recently, though not from the opening whistle. Simone and Filippo Inzaghi played alongside one another for 11 minutes against England in 2000.
Francesco Pio and Sebastiano’s appearance marks only the fourth occasion on which two brothers have taken the pitch together for the Italian national side. The family’s international link extends beyond the pair: their brother Salvatore Esposito, now with Sampdoria, was capped by Italy in 2023.
