Roberto Mancini has vowed that Italy will go looking for victory — not survival — when they travel to the Stade de France on Friday for their third Nations League fixture against France.

Italy head to Paris with one win and one defeat from their opening two Group A1 matches. They were beaten 2-0 at home by Belgium in Mancini's first game back at the helm since 2023, before responding with a 4-1 rout of Turkiye earlier this week. Their next assignment is a daunting one: France, now led by Zinedine Zidane, have taken maximum points from their opening fixtures in Group A1.

History offers little comfort either. Italy have won only three of their last 15 meetings with Les Bleus dating back to 1982 — drawing two and losing 10 — although their most celebrated recent result in the fixture remains the penalty shoot-out victory in the 2006 World Cup final. Twelve places now separate the sides in the FIFA World Rankings, with Italy 15th and France third, yet Mancini refuses to adopt an underdog mentality.

"It will certainly be a great game against a top team, full of extraordinary players, but we always want to make a good impression and will do our best," Mancini said, as quoted by Football Italia. "When you are up against such strong teams, you never play not to win, so naturally we must always play looking for the victory. After that, anything can happen."

Bastoni: "The coach is working on our self-esteem"

Defender Alessandro Bastoni set Italy on their way in Turkiye, scoring the opening goal of the 4-1 win — his first of the season for club or country, the Inter centre-back having drawn a blank in his first five Serie A appearances of the 2026-27 campaign. The strike also exorcised some personal demons from March's World Cup qualification play-off defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina, when he was sent off shortly before half-time in Zenica.

Speaking after the Turkiye rout, Bastoni was candid about the scars of that qualifying failure: "It was inevitable that my mind would go back to Zenica. I will be in debt to the Italian people for the next four years. When faced with difficult situations, I have always chosen to emerge with my head held high and take my responsibility. We hit rock bottom in recent years, but we want to get back on our feet."

With Italy having become the first former World Cup winners to miss three straight editions of the tournament, Bastoni says restoring confidence must be a priority for Mancini and his staff — and revealed it is already central to the coach's work.

"We are capable of having our say in a one-off match against anyone, but we also want to be consistent and make sure that Italy have an identity on the pitch," Bastoni said. "Our standard has to be the one we saw in the most recent match.

"Everyone hopes to get results as soon as possible, but we must also recognise we're at the start of this process. After the game against Turkiye, we need patience, as more tough moments will come.

"The coach is working on our self-esteem. In Italy, we're very good at moaning, feeling sorry for ourselves and focusing on all the negatives. But in my view, we should also learn to say when we have done something good, too. The more we say it, the more we'll start to believe it, so we've got to work on that.

"I've seen strong characters in the squad, they aren't afraid to try something new, and that touch is probably what we needed."

A second coming with baggage

The 4-1 win in Turkiye was Mancini's first victory of his second spell in charge, and the homecoming has not been without its complications. After being reappointed, the coach apologised for walking out on the Azzurri first time around to take up a lucrative contract in Saudi Arabia, and has since had to face down questions about the scandal surrounding his former club Manchester City, describing claims that he held a "double contract" during his time there as "not a problem that concerns me".

For now, though, the focus is firmly on Paris. Victory over a French side who have started with maximum points would be a statement result for a team still rebuilding its identity — and, as Bastoni suggests, the best possible medicine for a squad learning to believe in itself again.