Italian player changes teams to play in the World Cup for another country.
A player who hoped to play for Italy in the 2026 FIFA World Cup will now represent a different country after changing his international team. Italy didn’t make it to the tournament in North America—where 48 teams will compete for the first time—after losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a tough penalty shootout during the UEFA play-offs in April. This means Italy, four-time world champions, will miss their third World Cup in a row.
While Italy won’t be playing, strong teams like Spain, Germany, England, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Argentina, and Brazil will all be eager to win the final on July 19. Plus, some smaller nations like Curaçao and Cape Verde will be making their World Cup debuts, which is really exciting.
Even though Italy didn’t qualify, young Italian youth international Cristiano Volpato, 22, might still get to play. He’s been named in the preliminary Australia squad, led by Tony Popovic. This is interesting because Volpato had said no to playing for Australia in the last World Cup in Qatar, wanting to take his time before deciding on his international future. Australia will pick their final 26-player team on June 1.
Volpato was born and grew up in Sydney, Australia, and has dual citizenship, allowing him to represent Italy at the Under-21 level. He’s also played for their Under-19 and Under-20 teams. In 2020, he moved from Sydney to join Roma’s youth academy, and in 2023 he signed for Sassuolo. So far, he’s scored seven goals and made 11 assists in 72 Serie A games. Australia’s group at the World Cup includes Paraguay, the USA, and Türkiye.
Many well-known Premier League players have switched between countries for their youth or senior international teams. For example, Manchester City’s Jack Grealish played for the Republic of Ireland at youth level before earning 39 England caps as a senior player. Declan Rice did something similar—he played three friendly matches for Ireland before switching to England, where he’s earned 72 caps.
In simple terms, players with dual nationality can switch teams if they only played youth matches for their first country. Even if they played senior games, they can switch if they meet certain rules—like being under 21 when last playing, having fewer than four senior appearances, waiting three years since their last game, and not playing in a major tournament. Also, players can switch if their country takes away their nationality without their permission because of government decisions.