Sebastiano and Pio Esposito Play Together on the National Team: Just One Step Away from the All-Time Record for the Azzurri Brothers

Sebastiano Esposito joins his brother Pio on the Italian national team: for the first time in his career, the Sassuolo forward from Stabia has been called up to the Italian senior national team, where he will be welcomed by his younger brother Pio, who already has nine appearances for Italy to his credit, along with five goals.

The two brothers play the same position, and it won’t be easy to see them on the field together—although, unlike his brother Pio, Sebastiano can play as a second striker, behind the main forward.

Pio and Sebastiano could thus become the first brothers in Italian soccer history to play together for the senior national team: neither the Baresi brothers—Franco and Giuseppe—nor the Inzaghi brothers—Pippo and Simone—ever had the chance to do so in the past.

Given the four back-to-back Nations League matches against Belgium, Turkey (twice), and France, Roberto Mancini will likely need both players in the coming weeks. Sebastiano Esposito hopes to make the most of this opportunity to secure his place on the Azzurri roster in the coming months. Pio Esposito’s status, on the other hand, is more established; he was already a key figure in the Azzurri attack during the first matches of 2026.

The roster
GOALKEEPERS: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Massimo Pessina (Bologna), Guglielmo Vicario (Juventus);
DEFENDERS: Honest Ahanor (Crystal Palace), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Diego Coppola (Paris FC), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Roma), Michael Kayode (Brentford), Eddy Kouadio (Monza), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta);
MIDFIELDERS: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Issa Doumbia (Sporting CP), Nicolò Fagioli (Fiorentina), Davide Frattesi (Lazio), Rolando Mandragora (Torino), Alessandro Romano (Cagliari), Sandro Tonali (Tottenham);
FORWARDS: Nicolò Cambiaghi (Bologna), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Sebastiano Esposito (Sassuolo), Samuele Inacio (Borussia Dortmund), Moise Kean (Como), Daniel Maldini (Cagliari), Giacomo Raspadori (Atalanta), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Antonio Vergara (Napoli), Nicolò Zaniolo (Udinese), Mohamed Alì Zoma (Nuremberg).