Barcelona star Raphinha has now become a regular fixture in the Brazil national team. Back in 2020, while Roberto Mancini was still managing Italy, the Italian national team reportedly made a serious push to convince Raphinha to represent the Azzurri instead of Brazil, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
These strong efforts came before Raphinha made his senior debut for Brazil in 2021. He later confirmed the approach and revealed that Italy midfielder Jorginho played a key role in trying to persuade him to make the switch.
At the time of Italy’s interest, Raphinha was playing in the Premier League for Leeds United. He later secured a high-profile move to Barcelona in the summer of 2022.
Eligible to play for Italy through his father, Rafael Dias Belloli, who is of Italian descent, Raphinha ultimately chose to represent his birth country, Brazil.
Barcelona: Raphinha Holds Italian Passport Through His Father
Despite representing Brazil internationally, Barcelona forward Raphinha is not considered a non-EU player due to his Italian citizenship, inherited from his father. Barcelona director Deco previously confirmed that the Italian Football Federation had shown strong interest in bringing Raphinha into their national setup.
🚨🇮🇹 Raphinha: “I was close to accepting Italian national team call!”.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 5, 2025
“I was supposed to go to the Euro they won in 2020. I was basically set to go. So luckily, since the passport didn’t come through”, told @isabelapagliari.
“At that point, the people from the Italian national… pic.twitter.com/srCa9JNy06
Since Jorginho, Emerson Palmieri, and Rafael Toloi—all of Brazilian descent—were part of the Azzurri squad that won EURO 2020 in the summer of 2021, Barcelona Raphinha wouldn’t have been the only Italian-Brazilian in Roberto Mancini’s 2020 team.
