Italy beat Türkiye 3-1 in Bologna on Monday to give Roberto Mancini his first home win since returning as manager, with Gianluca Scamacca, Riccardo Calafiori and Pio Esposito scoring either side of Aral Şimşir’s equaliser to lift Italy to second in Nations League Group A1.
Bologna, Italy: Roberto Mancini had been waiting for this one. Since his return to the Italy job, a home win had eluded him. At the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara it finally arrived, in a match he had made harder for himself by changing nine players from the side that drew 1-1 with France three days earlier, keeping only Gianluigi Donnarumma and Alessandro Bastoni.
Scamacca strikes off the crossbar
The rotated side took time to settle, and Türkiye started brightly. Italy found the breakthrough in the 26th minute. Giovanni Di Lorenzo delivered a cross from the right, and Scamacca met it first time with a half-volley. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar and dropped in past goalkeeper Çakır, giving the hosts the lead.
Şimşir pulls Türkiye level
Türkiye did not simply wait. Early in the second half they worked the ball down the right, where Zeki Çelik whipped in a cross that Eren Elmalı flicked on, leaving Aral Şimşir unmarked at the far post. He finished in the 61st minute to make it 1-1, and the Dall’Ara fell quiet.
Calafiori and Esposito from the bench
Italy responded within three minutes. In the 64th minute Nicolò Barella floated a free-kick in from the right, and Riccardo Calafiori, on as a substitute, looped a header back across goal, over Çakır and into the far corner.
The decisive blow came late. In the 87th minute Doumbia drove into the box and shot, the block fell to Romano, and Romano sent it straight back into the danger area. Pio Esposito reacted first and turned it in from close range, his seventh goal for Italy in 13 appearances.
What it means for Mancini
The win was Italy’s second over Türkiye in the group, and it carried them into second place in Group A1 behind France, who beat Belgium 4-1 in Saint-Denis the same evening. Türkiye remain without a point.
For Mancini, the significance is as much about momentum as points. A first home win since his return, achieved with a heavily rotated side that was rescued by its substitutes, gives him something to build on in a group that France lead.
Italy 3-1 Türkiye (Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna | 5 October 2026 | UEFA Nations League, Group A1, Matchday 4)
Goals: Scamacca 26′, Calafiori 64′, Esposito 87′ (Italy); Şimşir 61′ (Türkiye)
