Italy manager Roberto Mancini said on Saturday that Jorginho deserves to win the Ballon d'Or, and that it would be "strange" if the Azzurri and Chelsea midfielder did not win the trophy this year.

Jorginho was among the 30 players nominated for the 2021 edition of the award, together with four other Italian players from the squad that won the European Championship in July.

Fabio Cannavaro was the last Italian man to win the prize back in 2006.

Italy will face Belgium in the third-place match of the UEFA Nations League on Sunday.

Spain brought Italy's world-record 37-game unbeaten run to an end with a 2-1 victory in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Both nations are expected to make changes to their semi-final line-ups; Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Thomas Foket have left the Belgium squad after sustaining injuries.

France and Spain will play in the title match later on Sunday.

Roberto Mancini, Italy manager:
(About midfielder Jorginho being one of five Italy players nominated for the 2021 Ballon d'Or)

"First of all they are among the nominees because they are really good players, and not because of me. If I had to pick the Ballon D'or winner, it would have to be Jorginho for me. He's won the Champions League, the Euro, FA Cup (final), I think he fully deserves to win, it would be strange if he doesn't win it."

(About changing Italy's line-up for the match against Belgium)

"We will certainly make some changes, Belgium are first in the rankings and won't have any problems from here to the (World Cup) draw. We need to try to win points to make sure we don't have any problems either. So in terms of motivation  it will certainly be a bit of a different match. But even if Belgium also make changes, they still have players who will want to show how good they are, and that they deserve to play."

(About Italy squad)

"We have a squad of young players who can play together for five or six more years, so we must carry on and keep getting better. We have to play well all the time, even when we lose. I was very proud of what my players did the other night (in 2-1 defeat to Spain), both in the first half because it was a very tight match, and then especially after we went down to 10 men (Leonardo Bonucci was sent off just before half-time). From that moment on we could have lost 4-0 or 5-0. Playing with 10 men against Spain is the worst thing that can happen, but we managed to play and stay tight, giving away as little as possible and we also managed to score. I am very proud of what these players have done, from my very first day up to today."