A player who had hoped to represent Italy at the 2026 World Cup will now represent another national team at the tournament after switching his international allegiance.
Italy failed to qualify for the North American tournament, which will have 48 teams for the first time, after losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties in the UEFA play-offs in April.
As a result, the four-time world champions will lose their third consecutive Cup.
While Italy will not be participating, the usual favourites like Spain, Germany, England, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Argentina and Brazil will aim to win the trophy on July 19.
Meanwhile, several national teams will make their World Cup debuts, with modest teams like Curaçao and Cape Verde appearing for the first time in the finals.
Despite Italy failing to qualify, Italy's age group representative Cristiano Volpato, 22, could still participate, having been included in Australia's preliminary list by coach Tony Popovic.
This comes despite him previously turning down the opportunity to play for Australia in the previous tournament in Qatar, as he did not want to make a "rushed decision" about his international career.
Australia's final 26-man squad will be announced on June 1.
Volpato was born and raised in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, but holds dual citizenship, which allowed him to represent Italy at U21 level.
He has also played for Italy at U19 and U20 levels.
In 2020, he left Sydney to join Roma's academy, before signing for Sassuolo in 2023.
Volpato has recorded seven goals and 11 assists in 72 appearances for the Serie A side.
Australia will face Paraguay, the USA and Turkey in Group D of the tournament.
As you may know, some well-known players have represented more than one national team at age group or senior level.
Manchester City winger Jack Grealish is a case in point, having played for the Republic of Ireland at youth level before earning 39 caps for England at senior level.
Declan Rice, perhaps more controversially, even played three friendly matches for the Republic of Ireland before switching national teams and making 72 appearances for the Three Lions.
Simply put, if a player has dual citizenship and has represented the national team he is leaving only at the age group level, he is allowed to change national team.
If a player has played for the national team he is leaving at senior level, but also holds another nationality, he can still change national teams, provided that he has not played for that country after the age of 21, has not made more than three senior appearances, at least three years have passed since his last international appearance and has not represented that national team in a major tournament.
Players can also change nationalities if they lose their original citizenship without their consent due to government decisions./Express newspaper/
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