Turkey vs Italy: Coach Roberto Mancini under fire as Azzurri face growing demands for results

Heading into Italy’s UEFA Nations League game away to Turkey on Monday, it feels as if Roberto Mancini is already under pressure just one game into his second spell as head coach. Boos rang around Rome’s Stadio Olimpico as the Azzurri slumped to a 2-0 home defeat to Belgium in their opening fixture of the 2026-27 Nations League, yet another kick to the solar plexus for the Italian national team’s hugely passionate fans. Italy have been on quite the rollercoaster journey for the best part of the decade, although most of it has been traveling downhill. You might describe the four-time World Cup winners’ failure to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia as a careless one-off. No such concession could be made for them missing the 2022 and 2026 editions after that, however. The Italian national team has never been buried this deep in the doldrums.