Mancini and Bastoni say Italy will not play like underdogs against France

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Roberto Mancini insists Italy will play to win against France, with defender Alessandro Bastoni revealing that boosting the Azzurri’s confidence and self-esteem has been a key focus of their returning head coach.

Italy have registered one win and one defeat so far in the Nations League, losing 2-0 at home to Belgium in Mancini’s first game at the helm since 2023, before winning 4-1 in Turkiye.

Their next assignment is a daunting one, though, as they head to the Stade de France to take on Zinedine Zidane’s France side.

Les Bleus have maximum points on the board in Group A1, and Italy have only won three of their last 15 head-to-head meetings with France dating back to 1982 (two draws, 10 defeats), albeit they did overcome them on penalties in the 2006 World Cup final.

While 12 places now separate Italy (15th) and France (third) in the FIFA World Rankings, Mancini is refusing to adopt an underdog mentality.

“It will certainly be a great game against a top team, full of extraordinary players, but we always want to make a good impression and will do our best,” Mancini said, as quoted by Football Italia.

“When you are up against such strong teams, you never play not to win, so naturally we must always play looking for the victory. After that, anything can happen.”

— Italy  (@Azzurri_En) October 1, 2026

Defender Bastoni scored Italy’s opening goal against Turkiye, exorcising some of his demons from March’s World Cup qualification play-off defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina, when he was sent off shortly before half-time. 

Given the negativity of the last few years, with Italy becoming the first former World Cup winners to miss three straight editions of the tournament, Bastoni says building self-belief must be a priority for Mancini and his staff. 

“We are capable of having our say in a one-off match against anyone, but we also want to be consistent and make sure that Italy have an identity on the pitch,” Bastoni said. 

“Our standard has to be the one we saw in the most recent match.

“Everyone hopes to get results as soon as possible, but we must also recognise we’re at the start of this process. After the game against with Turkiye, we need patience, as more tough moments will come. 

“The coach is working on our self-esteem. In Italy, we’re very good at moaning, feeling sorry for ourselves and focusing on all the negatives.

“But in my view, we should also learn to say when we have done something good. too. The more we say it, the more we’ll start to believe it, so we’ve got to work on that.

“I’ve seen strong characters in the squad, they aren’t afraid to try something new, and that touch is probably what we needed.”

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