Result Italy 3 – 1 Turkey, Monday, 5 October 2026, UEFA Nations League
45% Ball Possession ITALY and 55% Ball Possession TURKEY
Italy 3 – 1 Turkey 
26′ Gianluca Scamacca 61′ Aral Simsir
64′ Riccardo Calafiori
87′ Pio Esposito
Mission accomplished, Italy beat Türkiye 3-1 in their UEFA Nations League Group A1 match at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna on Monday, 5 October 2026. The exciting part is that following France’s dominant 4-1 win over Belgium, Italy has moved up to 2nd place in the group standings. Meanwhile, Türkiye sits at the bottom of the group without any points.
Against Vincenzo Montella’s Türkiye, Italy delivered a less dazzling display compared to their performance in Bursa. Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring in the first half, and shortly after Simsir equalized, Calafiori restored Italy’s lead. Francesco Pio Esposito rounded things off with a third goal late in the match. There was some concern about Vergara’s fitness, as the Napoli player had to leave the field due to a calf injury.
It’d be nice to secure a victory in this match and mark Bologna’s 117th anniversary celebration right here at the Dall’Ara! Come on, Azzurri!
Coming into this match, Italy are in fantastic form. On Matchday 2, Italy crushed Turkey! Turkey 1 – 4 Italy on Monday, 28 September 2026 in Bursa. On Matchday 3, Italy battled to a hard-earned 1-1 draw away against France. Meanwhile, Turkey’s Coach Vincenzo Montella is still searching for their first points of the campaign after a rough start, which included a tough 3-0 loss to Belgium and a narrow 0-1 defeat to France. Here’s an interesting storyline to watch:
Alessandro Bastoni has been on fire lately, finding the back of the net in each of his last two outings. Will he keep up his scoring streak and add another goal to his tally today?
UEFA Nations League Group A standings looked heading into the Turkey match.
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👉 🇮🇹 Italy 1 – 0 Turkey 🇹🇷
In the 26th minute, Gianluca Scamacca scored for @Azzurri_En with a right-footed strike from inside the box, sending the ball into the top right corner. Vergara delivered a cross into the penalty area where the striker battled the defender for the ball. After a deflection, he got the chance to volley toward goal: the ball hit the inside of the crossbar and went in.
#ITATUR #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro
👉 🇮🇹 Italy 1 – 1 Turkey 🇹🇷
Aral Simsir leveled the match for Türkiye in the 61st minute, striking with his left foot from the left side of the six yard box straight into the center of the goal. The assist came from Eren Elmali.
👉 🇮🇹 Italy 2 – 1 Turkey 🇹🇷
Riccardo Calafiori found the back of the net for @Azzurri_En in the 64th minute! The defender delivered a powerful header from inside the penalty area, sending the ball into the top right corner. Nicolò Barella provided the assist for this fantastic goal.
👉 🇮🇹 Italy 3 – 1 Turkey 🇹🇷
Francesco Pio Esposito wrapped up the match for @Azzurri_En in the 87th minute with a well-placed right-footed finish into the bottom left corner. The assist came from Alessandro Romano.
#ITATUR #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro
Stats BEFORE the game Italy vs Turkey
Italy has won just one of their last five matches played in Bologna across all competitions, drawing four of them, including the most recent two (against Germany in the 2022 UEFA Nations League and Turkey in a friendly in 2024); the Azzurri have never failed to secure a victory in three consecutive matches in this city.
Turkey is the national team Italy has faced more times throughout their history without ever losing: 14 matches, of which 10 victories – including the 4-1 win in this UEFA Nations League edition – and four draws.
After winning their first home match against Turkey (6-0 in 1962), Italy has beaten the Turks in only two of the following six home games (4D), drawing all three most recent ones in which a total of just four goals were scored (1-1 in 2002, 1-1 in 2006, and 0-0 in 2024, all friendlies).
Italy has lost two of their last three home matches (1W) across all competitions – 1-4 versus Norway in November 2025 and 0-2 versus Belgium on September 25 – and specifically could suffer two consecutive home defeats in official matches – excluding friendlies – for the second time in the 2000s, following November 2024-March 2025 (UEFA Nations League losses to France and Germany).
Italy vs Turkey Match Officials
Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will be taking charge of the match. Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik have been selected as assistant referees, while Karol Arys will serve as the fourth official. Piotr Lasyk will be handling video assistant referee duties, with Switzerland’s Lukas Faehndrich assisting him. Marciniak has previously overseen four Italy matches, during which the Azzurri have picked up two losses and two draws.
- He was the referee for Italy’s thrilling 3-3 draw against Germany in the second leg of the 2025 Nations League quarter-final, plus their 2-0 loss to Switzerland at Euro 2024.
- Marciniak also officiated Italy’s 0-0 stalemate with England in the Nations League back in 2022 and their 3-1 friendly loss to Belgium in 2015.
The Renato Dall’Ara Stadium is ready for the big game Italy vs Turkey
Italy’s official starting lineup against Turkey
Credit via x.com/Azzurri_En
Turkey’s official starting lineup against Italy
Photo via x.com/MilliTakimlar
Come along and sing the Italian National Anthem with pride alongside the Italian team!
🎶🎶🎶 Fratelli d’Italia,
L’Italia s’è desta;
Dell’elmo di Scipio
S’è cinta la testa.
Dov’è la Vittoria?
Le porga la chioma;
Ché schiava di Roma
Iddio la creò.
Chorus:
Stringiamci a coorte!
Siam pronti alla morte.
Siam pronti alla morte,
L’Italia chiamò.
Stringiamci a coorte!
Siam pronti alla morte.
Siam pronti alla morte,
L’Italia chiamò. Sì! 🎶🎶🎶
UEFA Nations League
Group A Matchday 4
🇮🇹 Italy 1 – 0 Turkey 🇹🇷
Monday, 5 October 2026
Renato Dall’Ara Stadium
Bologna, Italy
20:45
Referee Szymon Marciniak (Poland).
Assistant Referee 1 Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland).
Assistant Referee 2 Adam Kupsik (Poland).
Fourth Official Karol Arys (Poland).
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Piotr Lasyk (Poland).
Assistant VAR (AVAR) Lukas Faehndrich (Switzerland).
⚽️ Goals:
🟨 Yellow Cards:
✅ Official lineups – Tabellino:
👉🇮🇹 Lineup ITALIA (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Ruggeri; Barella, Romano, Doumbia; Vergara, Scamacca, Maldini.
Substitutes: Davide Frattesi, Sandro Tonali, Marco Carnesecchi (GK), Guglielmo Vicario (GK), Sebastiano Esposito, Francesco Pio Esposito, Riccardo Calafiori, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Nicolò Fagioli, Giorgio Scalvini, Michael Kayode, Samuele Inácio.
Head Coach: Roberto Mancini
👉 🇹🇷 Lineup TURKEY (4-3-2-1): Cakir; Celik, Elmali, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Kahveci, Özcan, Yuksek; Akgun, Akturkoglu; Simsir.
Substitutes: (GK), Muhammed Şengezer (GK), Merih Demiral, Emirhan Topçu, Bartuğ Elmaz, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Demir Ege Tıknaz, Deniz Gül, İlhan Fakılı, Melih Kabasakal, Oğuz Aydın, Mustafa Eskihellaç.
Head Coach: Vincenzo Montella
By Anna Italia
Renato Dall'Ara Stadium
