.jpg)
Hosts Russia have announced their provisional squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, with coach Stanislav Cherchesov naming a 28-man selection, which will be whittled down to 23 in time for the tournament.
Forward Artem Dzyuba has made his return to the squad after more than 18 months since his last appearance for Sbornaya. Though he will be competing with the likes of uncapped standout performer Fedor Chalov, with the 20-year-old hitting seven for CSKA Moscow in the last month. Another fresh face in Dinamo Moscow’s Alexander Tashaev also makes the cut.
The full line-up will head to Novogorsk, accompanied by an additional seven players in reserve – including the likes of Denis Glushakov and Dmitry Kombarov, for their last training camp before kicking off against Saudi Arabia on 14 June.
All squads are provisional until the final list of 23 players is announced by FIFA, following their submission by participating teams, on 4 June.
Russia provisional squad
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Club Brugge, Belgium), Soslan Dzhanaev (Rubin Kazan), Andrey Lunev (Zenit St Petersburg);
Defenders: Vladimir Granat, Ruslan Kambolov, Fedor Kudryashov (all Rubin Kazan), Ilya Kutepov (Spartak Moscow), Roman Neustadter (Fenerbahce, Turkey), Konstantin Rausch (Dynamo Moscow), Andrey Semenov (Akhmat Grozny), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit St Petersburg), Mario Fernandes (CSKA Moscow);
Midfielders: Yuri Gazinskiy (Krasnodar), Alexsandr Golovin, Alan Dzagoev (both CSKA Moscow), Alexsandr Erokhin, Yuri Zhirkov, Daler Kuzyaev (all Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Zobnin, Alexsandr Samedov (both Spartak Moscow), Anton Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Alexsandr Tashaev (Dynamo Moscow), Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal, Spain);
Forwards: Artem Dzyuba (Arsenal Tula), Aleksey Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar), Fedor Chalov (CSKA Moscow).
Additional seven: goalkeeper Marianato Guilherme (Lokomotiv Moscow); defenders Vladislav Ignatiev (Lokomotiv Moscow) and Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow); midfielders Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow) and Anton Shvets; forwards Anton Zabolotny and Dmitry Poloz (both Zenit St Petersburg).
