Toronto FC forward Sebastian Giovinco has pulled out of the Italy squad with an injury, two days after he was recalled by coach Antonio Conte following an absence of almost a year.
Giovinco was substituted early in the second half of Saturday's win against Montreal Impact with an adductor muscle injury but still flew to Italy to join the squad.
The Italian football federation confirmed on Monday that Giovinco had left the training camp at Coverciano, near Florence, "early in the afternoon" as he was not fit for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Malta and Bulgaria.
Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne was called up on Sunday night.
Giovinco's fellow MLS star Andrea Pirlo was included in the squad as Conte called up nine foreign-based players.
Italy host Malta in Florence on Thursday before playing Bulgaria in Palermo three days later.
Conte's team are second in Group H, a point behind Croatia and two ahead of Norway.
The full squad:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Daniele Padelli (Torino), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Sassuolo), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Zenit St. Petersburg), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan), Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Andrea Ranocchia (Inter Milan)
Midfielders: Andrea Bertolacci (AC Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC), Roberto Soriano (Sampdoria), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)
Forwards: Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Eder (Sampdoria), Stephan El Shaarawy (Monaco), Manolo Gabbiadini (Napoli), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Ciro Immobile (Sevilla), Graziano Pelle (Southampton), Franco Vazquez (Palermo), Simone Zaza (Juventus)