Italy have named a 16-player futsal squad for their opening 2028 World Cup Main Round qualifier against Georgia, with Salvo Samperi’s group due to assemble in Rende on 12 October before the home match on 20 October. Divisione Calcio a 5 said the game at Rende’s Palazzetto dello Sport will start at 20:30 and begins a four-match Group 10 programme running into March.
Samperi has retained much of the group involved in Italy’s training camp in Rome at the start of September, according to the Divisione Calcio a 5. The selection contains three goalkeepers, three defenders, eight players listed as wide players and two pivots, giving the head coach 16 players for the preparation period and Georgia fixture.
Jurij Bellobuono of Sandro Abate, L84 Torino’s Carlos Dalcin and Leonardo Politano of Came Treviso are the goalkeepers. Luca Ferraro, Carmelo Musumeci and Maurizio Silvestri make up the defensive group, while Giovanni Pulvirenti and Julio De Oliveira are the two selected pivots.
The remaining eight players are listed as wide options: Attilio Arillo, Ivan Cutruneo, Carlos Del Mestre, Enrico Donin, Giuliano Fortini, Francesco Liberti, Gabriel Motta and Michele Podda. The squad draws on players from nine clubs. L84 Torino and Meta Catania have the largest representation, with four players each. That is a simple count from the announced list rather than an assessment of the players’ likely roles in the match.
Georgia match starts a four-fixture schedule
The Georgia match is Italy’s first fixture in Group 10 of the Main Round. Italy are scheduled to travel to Kosovo on 6 November before hosting Kosovo at the Pala Disfida in Barletta on 10 November. Their final group match is away to Georgia on 2 March.
The sequence means Italy will meet each of their two opponents both at home and away. The first two home fixtures are therefore separated by an away match in Kosovo, while the return against Georgia comes nearly four months after the Rende opener. If the fixture proceeds as scheduled, it is Italy’s first Main Round match after the September camp.
Georgia and Kosovo open the Group 10 calendar on 14 October, six days before Italy play Georgia in Rende. Kosovo then host Georgia on 24 February, before Italy complete their programme in Georgia on 2 March. The published fixture list therefore places both meetings between Italy and Kosovo in November, while the two Italy-Georgia games sit at the beginning and end of Italy’s group campaign.
| Italy’s Group 10 fixtures | Date |
|---|---|
| Italy v Georgia, Rende | 20 October, 20:30 |
| Kosovo v Italy | 6 November |
| Italy v Kosovo, Barletta | 10 November |
| Georgia v Italy | 2 March |
Where the squad comes from
L84 Torino and Meta Catania have the largest representation in the squad, with four players apiece. L84 contribute Dalcin, Fortini, Liberti and De Oliveira, while Meta Catania supply Musumeci, Silvestri, Podda and Pulvirenti. Came Treviso have two players in Politano and Donin; Sandro Abate, Lazio C5, Napoli, Roma 1927, Sporting Sala Consilina and Jimbee Cartagena have one each.
Italy’s named staff includes Samperi as head coach, Vanni Pedrini as assistant coach, Riccardo Manno as technical collaborator and Gennaro Varriale as goalkeeping coach. The Divisione Calcio a 5 also listed two doctors whose dates with the group run from 12 to 16 October and from 16 to 21 October respectively.
The published qualifying calendar places the Main Round play-off draw on 5 March 2027, followed by Main Round play-offs from 12 to 21 April. The Elite Round draw is scheduled for 20 May 2027, with its group-stage windows later that year. Those dates underline why Italy’s four Main Round fixtures are the immediate focus, beginning with Georgia in Rende.