ARGENTINA ANNOUNCE PROVISIONAL WORLD CUP SQUAD

Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli has announced his 35-man provisional squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and snubbed some high-profile players.

The Albiceleste, who only qualified in the last game of their qualification campaign, have been drawn in Group D alongside Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria.It was rumoured that Argentina could face South Africa in a pre-World Cup friendly, but these plans never materialised. They have, instead, lined up a friendly against Haiti on 29 May.

Sampaoli has lots of attacking threat at his disposal, and many wondered if Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero and Mauro Icardi would all be selected in the same squad.All five of them were called up by to Sampaoli's preliminary squad, and the coach has until 4 June to announce his final 23-man squad for the tournament in Russia.

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero, Nahuel Guzman, Willy Caballero, Franco Armani

Defenders: Gabriel Mercado, Javier Mascherano, Nicolas Otamendi, Federico Fazio, Nicolas Tagliafico, Marcos Rojo, Marcos Acuna, Ramiro Funes Mori, Cristian Ansaldi, Eduardo Salvio, German Pezzella

Midfielders: Angel Di Maria, Ever Banega, Lucas Biglia, Manuel Lanzini, Gio Lo Celso, Ricardo Centurion, Guido Pizarro, Leandro Paredes, Maximiliano Meza, Enzo Perez, Pablo Perez, Rodrigo Battaglia, Cristian Pavon

Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Gonzalo Higuaín, Paulo Dybala, Mauro Icardi, Lautaro Martínez, Diego Perotti

Argentina start their 2018 World Cup campaign on 16 June against Iceland.

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