[MILAN, ITALY - MARCH 20: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy goes down with an injury during the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal leg one match between Italy and Germany at Stadio San Siro on March 20, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
MILAN, ITALY - MARCH 20: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy goes down with an injury during the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal leg one match between Italy and Germany at Stadio San Siro on March 20, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)](https://football-italia.net/official-calafiori-drops-out-of-italy-squad/) Riccardo Calafiori has been forced to withdraw from the Italy national team squad ahead of Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Norway, and will now return to Arsenal ahead of the North London Derby against rivals Tottenham next weekend.
Official: Calafiori leaves Italy camp and returns to Arsenal
Calafiori was included in Gennaro Gattuso’s squad of 27 players for World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway during the November international break, but has been struggling with his fitness at Coverciano this week.
The former Bologna centre-back trained individually during the first part of the week, and was not involved for Italy’s 2-0 win over Moldova on Thursday.
FLORENCE, ITALY - JUNE 07: Andrea Cambiaso and Riccardo Calafiori of Italy in action during an Italy training session at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on June 07, 2024 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
FLORENCE, ITALY – JUNE 07: Andrea Cambiaso and Riccardo Calafiori of Italy in action during an Italy training session at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on June 07, 2024 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
He stayed on with the Azzurri squad, originally with the aim of returning to full fitness in time for the Norway qualifier on Sunday.
However, it was confirmed during the pre-match press conferences on Saturday that Calafiori will return to Arsenal ahead of schedule.
Moise Kean and Nicolo Cambiaghi also withdrew from the squad earlier this week.
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