Pio and Sebastiano Esposito became the first brothers to start a match together for Italy since 1915 as the Azzurri produced a scintillating first-half display to beat Turkey 4-1 in Bursa on Monday night.
The Inter striker and his Sassuolo older brother lined up alongside each other in attack, ending a 111-year wait since Aldo and Luigi Cevenini last achieved the feat against Switzerland. A third Esposito brother, Salvatore, debuted for the national team in 2022, making them the first trio of siblings to represent Italy.
Coach Luciano Mancini made eight changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Belgium in the opening fixture, handing debuts to Sebastiano Esposito, Michael Kayode and Matteo Ruggeri. Nicolò Fagioli also returned for his first appearance since October 2024.
Italy were ruthless from the start. Alessandro Bastoni opened the scoring in the ninth minute, sweeping in from close range after Zeki Celik's attempted clearance fell kindly following a Ruggeri corner. It was the defender's first goal since his red card in the World Cup play-off defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A flowing team move doubled the lead in the 22nd minute. One-touch passes involving Frattesi, Pio Esposito and Giacomo Raspadori ended with Kayode's angled drive being parried into the path of Frattesi, who finished calmly at the back post.
Five minutes later, Kayode got in on the act himself. A near-identical passing sequence saw Pio Esposito feed the full-back down the right, and the debutant rifled home at the near post. It was Italy's first three-goal haul in the opening half-hour of a competitive match since the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania in September 2021.
Turkey pulled one back through Baris Alper Yilmaz within 90 seconds of the restart after a defensive mix-up involving Ruggeri and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. But any hopes of a comeback were extinguished almost immediately. Substitute Nicolò Cambiaghi intercepted a stray pass and pulled back for Sandro Tonali, whose curling effort bounced off the far post — Pio Esposito was perfectly placed to nod in the rebound for 4-1.
The goal made Pio Esposito only the second player to score five or more goals for Italy before turning 21, after the legendary Giuseppe Meazza. At 20 years old, the Inter forward is writing his own chapter in the history books.
Italy move up to three points in Nations League Group A, leaving Turkey pointless. The Azzurri next travel to face France on Friday.
Sources
- https://lapresse.us/sports/2026/09/28/nations-league-turkey-italy-1-4/
- https://football-italia.net/nations-league-turkiye-1-4-italy-delight/
- https://www.turkiyetoday.com/sports/turkiye-suffers-4-1-defeat-to-italy-in-uefa-nations-league-3229176
