Roberto Mancini has made eight changes to his Italy side in their quest to secure Group A’s top spot.
Only Gianluigi Donnarumma (€5.5m), Leonardo Bonucci (€5.5m) and Jorginho (€6m) keep their place for this afternoon’s clash with Wales, with highly-owned assets like Lorenzo Insigne (€8.5m), Ciro Immobile (€10m), Domencio Berardi (€6m) and Leonardo Spinazzola (€5.5m) relegated to the bench.
Mancini had already confirmed that Marco Verratti (€6.5m) would play his first minutes of the tournament but Alessandro Florenzi (€6m) is still absent after injuring his calf in the opener against Turkey, whilst Giorgio Chiellini (€6m) only lasted 24 minutes against Switzerland before picking up a hamstring problem.
Federico Chiesa (€7m) and Andrea Belotti (€8m) are recalled and will have an opportunity to force their way into an impressive Italian side in time for the knockout phase.
Italy are unbeaten in 29 matches, stretching back to September 2018. Their ten consecutive clean sheets will be tested by a strong Wales line-up that includes Gareth Bale (€9.5m) and Aaron Ramsey (€8.5m).
Robert Page has made three changes, with Chris Gunter (€5m), Neco Williams (€4.5m) and Ethan Ampadu (€5m) replacing Kieffer Moore (€6.5m), Chris Mepham (€4.5m) and Ben Davies (€5.5m) – the rested trio are all one booking away from a suspension.
It appears to be a change from a four-man defence to a wing-back system by Page and while four points are already enough to secure qualification, a win over Italy will secure top spot.
Whoever tops the group will face the runner-up of Group C, containing Netherlands, Ukraine and Austria. Second place will face their Group B equivalent, either Belgium, Russia, Finland or Denmark.
The final round of group games means simultaneous matches, with Switzerland and Turkey playing in the other game.
The Swiss have reached the round of 16 in their previous three tournaments but will likely need a win on top of the point secured against Wales. Two defensive changes sees Kevin Mbabu (€5m) and Fabian Schar (€5m) make way for Silvan Widmer (€4.5m) and Steven Zuber (€7m).
Xherdan Shaqiri (€7m) keeps his starting spot, as does Burak Yilmaz (€8m) and Caglar Soyuncu (€5m) for Turkey. Picked as pre-tournament dark horses, the Crescent Stars conceded just three times in qualifying but have lost 3-0 and 2-0 so far.
Merih Demiral (€5m) scored an own-goal against Italy and was promptly dropped for their Wales meeting, although he is back in the starting XI here. Turkey’s trio of changes also brings Mert Muldur (€4.5m) and Irfan Can Kahveci (€5.5m) into proceedings, in place of Okay Yukuslu (€5.5m), Kenan Karaman (€6.5m) and Umut Meras (€4.5m).
Italy XI (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Tolói, Bonucci, Bastoni, Emerson; Pessina, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Belotti, Bernardeschi
Wales XI (3-5-2): Ward; Gunter, Rodon, Ampadu; C Roberts, Morrell, Allen, Ramsey, N Williams; James, Bale
Switzerland XI (3-4-2-1): Sommer; Elvedi, Akanji, Rodríguez; Widmer, Xhaka, Freuler, Zuber; Shaqiri; Embolo, Seferovic
Turkey XI (4-2-3-1): Çakir; Çelik, Demiral, Soyunçu, Muldur; Ayhan, Tufan; Ünder, Kahveci, Calhanoglu; Burak Yilmaz.
READ MORE OF OUR FANTASY FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 CONTENT
GROUP A: Mexico | South Africa | Korea Republic | Czechia
GROUP B: Canada | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Qatar | Switzerland
GROUP C: Brazil | Morocco | Haiti | Scotland
GROUP D: USA | Paraguay | Australia | Turkiye
GROUP E: Germany | Curacao | Cote d’Ivoire | Ecuador
GROUP F: Netherlands | Japan | Sweden | Tunisia
GROUP G: Belgium | Egypt | Iran | New Zealand
GROUP H: Spain | Cabo Verde | Saudi Arabia | Uruguay
GROUP I: France | Senegal | Iraq | Norway
GROUP J: Argentina | Algeria | Austria | Jordan
GROUP K: Portugal | DR Congo | Uzbekistan | Colombia
GROUP L: England | Croatia | Ghana | Panama
Round 1 Scout Picks | Round 1 best captains | Round 1 best differentials: | Sleep-friendly XV | Players to avoid | Team reveals | Best players by position + price
Predicted line-ups | Penalty + corner takers | Direct free-kick takers
How to play World Cup 2026 Fantasy | What is ‘Scouting Bonus’? | How to order your starters + subs | Can you captain, transfer or sub 12th Man? | 150 of the best, worst and funniest team names
Join our mini-league + win prizes! | Stats Centre | FREE AI Team Rater | Fixture Ticker | Scouting Bonus tracker | Fixture calendar
