Pio Esposito scores again and makes his way into Azzurri history: all the records with Italy, is Riva within reach in the scorers’ rankings?

Francesco Pio Esposito, the man of records. His goal in Italy's final 4-1 win away to Turkey set several new records, cementing the Inter forward's place in the Azzurri record books for both his finishing and his precocity.

That diving header was his 6th goal in 11 appearances for the Italy national team . Esposito now boasts an outstanding average of 0.55 goals per game , better even than Roberto Baggio . In fact, from the 1990s onwards no one has such a ratio between appearances and goals scored. Widen the scope to the whole history of the Azzurri and the 2005-born player from Castellammare ranks 13th all-time for goals-per-game average among players who have scored at least six times.

Topping that Azzurri goals-per-game ranking is Annibale Frossi , who played in the 1930s and scored eight goals in five matches, ahead of Sivori, Libonatti, Piola and Riva. Pio sits above nine modern players such as Moise Kean and Christian Vieri , as well as illustrious names such as Amedeo Amadei and Pierino Prati . His goal against Turkey, scored before he has even turned 21 in a match in which he also provided an assist for Kadoye, has lifted him to an average of one goal every 101 minutes on the pitch for the Azzurri.

There is more, though, because that goal for 4-1 in Bursa took him, as mentioned, beyond the five-goal mark for Italy . He has done it at the age of 21 years and 92 days , and only two players got there younger: Giuseppe Meazza (19 years and 261 days) and Gianni Rivera (21 years and 78 days). It is a historic feat: the Inter striker is the third youngest ever to do it , another sign of his rise. After an excellent first season with the senior side, he is carving out more and more space in mentor Chivu's tactical setup this year and has already delivered two goals and one assist.

Under Mancini, Esposito is an undisputed starter, and his numbers for the Azzurri already stand out now. They look even more striking when projected into the future. It would be no surprise if, within a few years, the Inter forward were to climb many places in the all-time Italy scoring charts , a ranking whose leading spots have barely changed for years.

Right now he sits in 77th place with 6 goals , alongside Pellegrini and Bernardeschi , and if he maintains this pace Esposito could move past plenty of the names ahead of him. Among the active players, Federico Chiesa and El Shaarawy have 7 goals, Berardi has 8, Frattesi has 9, Barella has 10, Retegui and Raspadori have 11, Belotti has 12, Kean has 13 and Balotelli has 14. With 8 goals in the coming months, and if the "contenders" were to remain stuck, Pio could soon become the top active scorer for the Azzurri . The table is so tight that even the top 10 already looks within reach.

From 6 goals, and with 2 matches against France and Turkey still to come in the next few days, Italy's number 7 has plenty of Azzurri totems in his sights: with another 10 goals in the coming months/years, he would draw level on 16 with Toni and Vialli. On 17 there is Immobile , on 19 Bettega and Gilardino , on 20 Paolo Rossi and on 21 De Rossi .

Before he can break into the top 10, he would need to move past Sandro Mazzola (22 Italy goals) and then target the 23 goals of Vieri and Graziani , and the 25 of Baloncieri , Inzaghi and Altobelli . The top five starts with Baggio and Del Piero on 27 goals, while the podium has been unchanged for decades: Piola on 30, Meazza on 33 and Riva on 35.

For now, those heights remain only a dream for Esposito, who is still as many as 29 goals behind Rombo di Tuono . The task is certainly complicated but not impossible , given the boy's talent and his age. Even if he were only to come close to the Cagliari legend, Italian football would have rediscovered the kind of goalscorer it has lacked, at least in numerical terms, for many years. Now all that remains is to hope so and keep cheering him on, and cheering on Mancini's Azzurri.