Italy vs Northern Ireland (02:45, 27/3): Pio Esposito will lead Italy to the World Cup!

Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean will still be the starting striker duo for the attack Italy tonight, but Francesco Pio Esposito (or simply 'Pio' as the 20-year-old player is building his own brand) is always ready to play the hero.

A few days ago, Esposito scored a goal just 39 seconds into Inter Milan's away match at Fiorentina's Artemio Franchi stadium in Serie A. That stadium is only 1km away from the Italian national team's training center in Coverciano by direct distance. Italy is just 1km away by direct distance.

Pio deserves to start

In that same match, Moise Kean was ineffective in scoring for Fiorentina. Last season, when Retegui and Kean topped the Serie A scoring list with 19 and 18 goals respectively, Esposito was the runner-up top scorer in Serie B with Spezia, scoring 17 goals. This season, Kean has only 8 goals after 30 rounds, while Esposito has impressed with 6 goals despite only being a substitute at Inter (counting only Serie A). Among them, 5 goals were scored since the start of 2026 and 2 goals in the last two weeks.

That stark contrast raises a big question for coach Gennaro Gattuso about who deserves to start more: Kean, who is worryingly declining, or Pio, who is progressing steadily. The numbers further confirm Esposito's superiority. If we subtract Kean's 2 penalty goals, both players have scored 6 goals in Serie A this season, but while Kean has played 1,961 minutes and needed 95 shots, Esposito has only played 1,209 minutes and taken 49 shots.

Esposito also does not lag behind Kean at the national team level. In 6 matches Italy under coach Gattuso, Kean scored 4 goals while Pio also has 3 goals, even though he is still considered a substitute player. Notably, all 3 of Pio's goals occurred when he partnered with Retegui in attack, including one instance where he replaced Kean. Pio is the only Azzurri player to score against Norway, and that goal came in his first start for the national team. At this point, he is clearly much more reliable than Kean.

History awaits

Everything is very favorable for Esposito in establishing himself as the young star most worthy of expectation for the future of football in Italy. Many see in him the shadow of the "Bull" Christian Vieri, the archetype of a physically powerful center-forward, but former star Antonio Di Natale even compared Pio to the legend Marco Van Basten in terms of seizing opportunities. Esposito doesn't need to score 500 goals as a teenager like Francesco Camarda to become Azzurri's hope; he has meticulously seized every opportunity to play at the highest level to rise.

History awaits Pio. Just scoring one more goal before his upcoming birthday (28/6), he will become the third player in history to score more than 3 goals for the national team Italy before age 21, after Giuseppe Meazza and Gianni Rivera, both great names in football Italy. If he scores against Northern Ireland, he will surpass both legendary predecessors by being the first U21 player to score in 3 consecutive matches for the Azzurri. The motivation is immense, and Pio certainly doesn't want to miss it. His 1.91m height will be a suitable weapon to contend with Northern Ireland's tall, dense defense.

Psychological challenge

Kean is likely to still start, because a match with such enormous pressure is not suitable for the psychology of a 20-year-old player. But Esposito has repeatedly shown he is not afraid of pressure; he has matured, most recently by boldly stepping up to carry Inter's attack when captain Lautaro Martinez was absent due to injury. In the past month, he is the only Inter player to score a goal. Pio's subdued performance in the derby loss to Milan raised doubts about whether he is still too inexperienced for a major battle, but remember that those who missed clear chances that day were seasoned veterans, not him.

Contrary to stereotypes, Gattuso is not a rigid coach. His philosophy "people are more important than tactics" is applied consistently, giving every player the opportunity to express themselves. Esposito has "grown up" in that environment and has affirmed his position.

When Italy won the World Cup in 2006, Pio Esposito was just toddling around. 20 years later, he is ready to play whenever called upon, ready to become the guide leading Italy back to the World Cup stage after 12 years of absence.