Spalletti, two victories to secure a future regardless of what happens in the FIGC. Three key moves to turn the page: after Paris the road is downhill and this time it is really complicated not to get the World Cup pass

The victories against France and Israel are the greatest insurance that Luciano Spalletti could sign for the continuation of his journey as coach. With a Federal President at the end of his mandate who also for this reason after the disastrous European Championship decided not to change coach, the CT from Certaldo knew he had to reset, recite a mea culpa and then start again from a new idea of ​​football to ensure new life in this role.
The technical commissioner needed a clear and immediate change, a new manifesto to present as a business card for everyone, not just for Gabriele Gravina. A change that has happened, with the light at the end of the tunnel that is now clearly visible.
Spalletti knows that the FIGC will face one of the hottest seasons in its recent history: it is not known who in the near future will have to judge his work, who will have to confirm him or possibly replace him. The elections for the new president initially called for this autumn have been postponed to 2025 after the decision to transform the assembly of November 4 into the one in which the Statute will be revised to give more elective power to Serie A. The day of reckoning has already been postponed since the end of July, but sooner rather than later the vote for the new President will arrive. And on that day, Luciano Spalletti also wants to show up with a National team that has now cancelled the last European Championship and is experiencing a new and more exciting journey. It is the only way he has to still guarantee himself a future as CT.

The path in this sense is the right one, there is no doubt that in these two September matches Spalletti has succeeded in his intent. He won surprisingly and deservedly in Paris against France 70 years after the last time, then confirmed it three days later in the surreal challenge against Israel. He renewed and rejuvenated his group with the consequence that in Budapest he took to the field with a starting eleven with an average age of 25, three years less than the team that surrendered to Switzerland in Berlin without the honors of war.
New men, but also new ideas for a new Italy. Spalletti showed up at the (re)start with a different tactical look that is decidedly more comfortable for his players. The switch to a three-man defense, to that 3-5-2 that is now the dominant thought in Serie A, immediately found fertile ground at Coverciano, in a group that was no longer extra-large as in the past. And here comes another important decision because the choice to reduce the number of players called up, to call only 23, has created many benefits. In training, in the involvement of individuals. He who had been among the supporters of the list of 26 for the European Championship understood that only by restricting the number of players available would he get the most out of his men. He did it and was immediately rewarded.

Italy will restart in October from the sole first place in Group 2 of League A of the Nations League. It is an important fact because closing the group in the first two places means having the certainty of being seeded in the December draw when the twelve qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup will be drawn up. Italy has missed the last two editions, but this time with the expansion to 48 teams, including 16 European, not qualifying for a national team like ours becomes truly ‘challenging’. Not only because by doing well in the Nations League there will be an escape route until March 2026, but above all because being in pot one the Azzurri will have the certainty of not crossing paths with all the *strongest teams. And now that pot one is practically one step away: four points in the next four games (three of which at home) will reasonably be enough to close the group with two teams behind them.

*= At present, the teams that certainly cannot end up in the same group as Italy because they are in the same urn are Portugal, Croatia, France, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Spain, England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.