Sad news for fans of the Italian national team

Striker Federico Chiesa has been excluded from the Italian national team squad that is preparing to compete in the semi-finals of the European Football Playoff for the 2026 World Cup against Northern Ireland, due to his not being ready to play, according to what the Italian Football Federation announced on Monday.
The local federation said in its statement that Liverpool striker Chiesa “has not been approved to participate in the next two matches,” referring to the confrontation against Northern Ireland in the play-off semi-finals, and then in the event of a victory against Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina next week.
Italy faces its counterpart, Northern Ireland, at the Atalanta Stadium in Bergamo, aspiring to maintain its hopes of snatching one of the qualifying cards for the World Cup and avoiding a third consecutive absence from the finals.
The Italian Federation did not specify the type of injury to the 28-year-old, which is considered an additional setback for the career of the player who was once considered one of the most prominent Italian talents.
Chiesa, who often comes from Liverpool’s substitute bench, was one of the “Azzurri” stars during their 2020 European Cup win, but he has not participated with his country’s national team since the disappointing leg of the 2024 European Cup title defense campaign.
Bologna striker Nicolo Cambiaggi was called in to replace Chiesa, while defender Alessandro Bastoni and Atalanta striker Gianluca Scamaca are seeking to recover quickly in order to participate in Thursday’s match.