Italy lost another two midfielders ahead of the key World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in Rome on Friday, as the Swiss injury list also lengthened.
Coach Roberto Mancini, already without regular starter Marco Verratti through injury, said on Monday that Nicolò Zaniolo and Lorenzo Pellegrini would return to their club Roma.
Pellegrini has a knee injury while Zaniolo has a left calf issue.
Both also missed Italy’s victorious European Championship campaign through injury.
Switzerland had already been without captain Granit Xhaka and forward Haris Seferovic to long-term injuries, and lost winger Steven Zuber on Monday as the fourth player to drop out injured from the squad selected last week.
Italy and Switzerland have 14 points atop Group C with the European champion having the tiebreaker advantage on goal difference of two goals better. Only the first-place finisher gets a direct spot into next year’s finals in Qatar. The second-placed team goes into the playoffs in March, needing to advance past two opponents to reach the World Cup.
Mancini has called up Matteo Pessina and Danilo Cataldi to replace Zaniolo and Pellegrini.