The Serie A takes its fourth and final break of the season, but not without a few notable absentees weighing heavily on the minds of fans and coaches alike. The likes of Paulo Dybala, Nicola Zalewski, and Denzel Dumfries have had to pull out of their national duties due to injuries that will keep them sidelined for a while. Dybala is grappling with a troublesome tendon injury that’s proving rather tricky to shake off (read more here), while Zalewski is still recuperating from a calf strain that has kept him out of action for nearly a month. Dumfries, meanwhile, picked up his injury in a hard-fought contest against Atalanta.
On the French front, Marcus Thuram has departed the national set-up as well, following a mutual agreement with coach Deschamps after twisting his left ankle in a match against Fiorentina back in February. Resch, too, has to bow out after a muscle injury sustained during his last game against Cagliari. Still, a robust total of 179 players have secured their tickets for this international window, ready to take on the challenge ahead—be it in the Nations League, World Cup qualifiers for 2026 in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, or friendly matches.
Looking at the teams, Milan has seen a mass exodus with 15 players heading off, while Monza is only losing just four. Here’s the squad-by-squad breakdown of convocations:
- Atalanta: 13 players called up
- Bologna: 10 players called up
- Cagliari: 6 players called up
- Como: 8 players called up
- Empoli: 6 players called up
