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Former Italy Under-21 international Christian Volpato is switching allegiance to Australia ahead of the Socceroos announcing their squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on 1 June.
The 22-year-old midfielder was born and raised in Sydney but holds dual citizenship after moving to Italy in 2020 to join Roma’s youth system. He joined Serie A side Sassuolo in 2023 and has represented Italy at youth level.
Having only represented Italy at youth level, Volapto fills one of the five different situations that make up a player International loyalty is switchable.
Valpato has been added to Australia’s preliminary squad and will attend a training camp in Los Angeles before manager Tony Popovich announces his 26-man squad on Monday.
Football Australia said it had received a release letter from its Italian counterparts and submitted the relevant paperwork to FIFA as it awaits world governing body Volpato’s decision to approve the change.
Valpato turned down the chance to represent Australia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar because he wanted to focus on his club career in Italy and did not want to make a “hasty decision” that could “risk being too premature”.
He said he was happy to “wait for Italy” after Popovich contacted him earlier this year.
After Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup in March, manager Gennaro Gattuso and Italian FA (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina quit their positions. Both have yet to be replaced.
Earlier this week Australia and Middlesbrough play-maker Riley McGree was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury suffered during the Championship play-off final.
Australia begin their World Cup campaign against Turkey on Sunday, June 14 (05:00 BST), before facing the USA and Paraguay.
