Italy were booed off in Rome on Friday, and they led Turkey 3-0 inside 27 minutes on Monday
Roberto Mancini has his first win back in charge of Italy. Debutant Michael Kayode scored and the Esposito brothers started together in a 4-1 win in the Bursa rain.
Sep 29, 2026
Three days after being booed off in Rome, Italy had the game won inside 27 minutes. Roberto Mancini’s side scored three times in the first half and once more early in the second to beat Turkey 4-1 in Bursa on Monday night, the first win of his second spell in charge. The result landed overnight in India, with kick-off at 12:15am IST.
It also left Turkey still waiting. They have now played Italy and France and have no points and one goal to show for it.
Eight changes and a debut goal
Mancini changed eight players from the side that lost 2-0 to Belgium on Friday. Only Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sandro Tonali and Francesco Pio Esposito kept their places. Three players made their debuts: full-back Michael Kayode, Matteo Ruggeri and Pio Esposito’s older brother Sebastiano.
The new-look side went ahead after nine minutes. Zeki Celik scuffed his clearance from a corner and the ball fell to Alessandro Bastoni, back from suspension, who swept it into the roof of the net from about 12 yards. Davide Frattesi made it 2-0 on 22 minutes, turning in at the back post after Kayode’s shot was parried.
Five minutes later Kayode had a goal of his own. He pushed up the right, Pio Esposito found him inside the box, and the 22-year-old took one touch before finishing low at the near post.
The Esposito brothers made some history just by walking out together. Two brothers had not started the same game for Italy since 1915, when Aldo and Luigi Cevenini scored all the goals in a 3-1 win over Switzerland.
Turkey pull one back, then concede straight away
Vincenzo Montella made three changes at half-time and got a goal within two minutes of the restart. Oguz Aydin pulled the ball back from the right and Baris Alper Yilmaz swept it into an empty net.
That was as close as it got. Three minutes later Tonali curled a shot against the far post and Pio Esposito headed in the rebound for 4-1. Yilmaz also went down in the box under pressure from Donnarumma in the second half and was booked for diving.
The numbers show how the game was decided. Turkey had 54% of the ball, but Italy had the better of the chances, outshooting the hosts 14 to eight, and put eight of those on target, scoring with half of them. When Turkey did get through, Donnarumma usually dealt with it, Arda Guler included.
Montella was short of players before a ball was kicked. Goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir was suspended after his red card against France, and Hakan Calhanoglu, Kenan Yildiz and Mert Muldur were all injured.
“They didn’t deserve that kind of talk”
Mancini made it clear he had heard the criticism after Rome. “These boys deserved the win, especially what so many have been saying over the past three days,” he said. “They didn’t deserve that kind of talk. We are on a long journey.”
He also pointed to the conditions, with rain falling on a heavy surface. “I am satisfied, we had a really good approach on a difficult pitch that was muddy,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
One win in Bursa does not undo a third World Cup miss in a row, and Mancini’s own “long journey” line says as much. It does change the mood before the hardest game in the group.
France next for Italy
France top Group 1 with six points from two games after Michael Olise’s late winner in Brussels. Italy and Belgium have three each, and Turkey have none.
Italy go to the Stade de France on Friday, 2 October, while Turkey travel to Belgium the same night needing something from a group that has given them nothing so far.