Mussolini’s great-grandson makes Serie A debut

Romano Floriani Mussolini, the great-grandson of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, made his Serie A debut on Friday, helping Cremonese defeat Sassuolo 3-2.

The 22-year-old Floriani Mussolini scored the penalty with eight minutes left, which gave the newly promoted side, who had won two games and were now top of the Serie A standings, the winner.

In Cremonese’ 2-1 win over AC Milan last week in their Serie A opener, the right-back, who is on loan from Lazio, was an unused substitute.

Due to having always wanted to make my Serie A debut, Floriani Mussolini said, “Too many things happened in too little time, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the night.”

“I’m happy that I succeeded in making a difference,” I said.

At Cremonese, Floriani Mussolini wears the number 22 shirt, which reads “Romano” on the back of his jersey.

He rose through Lazio’s ranks, but he never made it to the Biancocelesti’s top flight in Italy.

In the 2024-2025 season, he was loaned out to Pescara’s third-division team while Juve Stabia was on loan at Pescara.

Some reports claimed Juve Stabia supporters celebrated the goal with fascist salutes following his December 1st victory against Cesena, a claim the club vehemently refuted.

Floriani Mussolini stated that he was “here to play football” when he first joined Cremonese in the summer, adding that “my surname bothers people more than me.”