FIFA World Cup 2018: Dropped 23-man squad

No matter which team you're rooting for, every single World Cup match is a rollercoaster ride, full of drama and emotions, and as the spotlight shifts to Russia, let's analyse a talented 23-man squad, that was left out from their respective national teams for this year's edition.

Goalkeepers

Sergio Rico(Spain | Sevilla), Benoit Costil(France | Bordeaux) and Ralf Fahrmann(Germany | Schalke).

The 24-year-old Sergio Rico has been Sevilla’s first choice for four seasons now and was even part of Spain's Euro 2016 campaign. However, Julen Lopetegui has gone with the veteran Pepe Reina who had an exceptional season for Napoli and the 23-year-old Kepa Arrizabalaga of Athletic Bilbao as backup keepers to David De Gea.

Following a fantastic season in Ligue 1, Bordeaux goalkeeper Benoit Costil will be extremely disappointed in missing the cut. There was little doubt over who Didier Deschamps would select as his first and second choice goalkeepers. With Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda filling those spots, Paris Saint-Germain shot-stopper Alphonse Areola was picked ahead of Costil as the third choice for the Les Blues.

Fahrmann has been exceptional for Schalke this season and made 49 appearances in all competitions. But, for a player of his standards, Fahrmann remains uncapped for his country. Germany has a wealth of options to choose from, but this guy deserves a look-in at some point.

Defenders

FC Barcelona v AS Roma - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One — Sergi Roberto and Nelson Semedo in action for FC Barcelona against AS Roma

Sergi Roberto, Marcos Alonso, and Nelson Semedo have been exceptional this season. Roberto and Semedo played exquisitely for Barcelona during this year's campaign, and their omission has come as a surprise for everyone.

Sergi was even part of UEFA's LaLiga team of the season. Although Chelsea had an unforgettable campaign, Alonso has been a revelation for the blues. He was even part of the PFA team of the year, yet Lopetegui favoured Arsenal's Nacho Monreal, who also had an unbelievable season, ahead of Alonso in the left-back position.

Lucas Digne, Alex Sandro, Shkodran Mustafi and German Pezzella are the other players who failed to catch the bus to Russia. Sandro and Mustafi had a disastrous season to be very honest, but there is no doubt about the heap loads of talent that they possess.

Lucas Digne, who has been an ever-present in the French national team throughout his time at Barca was overlooked by Deschamps, who said that the left-back’s lack of minutes at Barca has counted against him.

Fiorentina center-back German Pezzella, an unknown figure alongside the heavyweights of Argentina, was excluded from Sampaoli's squad. He is undoubtedly much more capable than Gabriel Mercado, who is part of Sampaoli's 23-member squad to Russia.

Midfielders

Even an intense bus parking model won't be able to stop the wreckage that could be created by this list of versatile midfielders. They had all the reasons to believe that they deserved a ticket to Russia, but they were unfairly overlooked by their coaches, despite having a good season for their respective clubs.

Rabiot, Nainggolan, and Martial do have the talents to represent any other squad in the World Cup, and their omission has shocked the footballing world completely. Nainggolan was bewildered by Roberto Martinez's decision to leave him out of the squad after having a kick-ass season for Roma and even announced his international retirement.

Roma v Lazio - Italian Cup — A dejected Nainggolan has announced his retirement from the International circuit

Lopetegui had a surfeit of options in the midfield department and leaving the Spanish trio of Martinez, Luis Alberto, and Vitolo back at home wouldn't cost them much at Russia. Wolves ace Ruben Neves saw his World Cup hopes dashed after being excluded from Portugal’s final 23-man squad.

The former Porto captain had a memorable season, but Fernando Santos selected experienced players to provide supporting acts to their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo. Jack Wilshere had a decent season for the Gunners and was a notable absentee from Gareth Southgate's squad. His long history of injuries and also the superior performance of Dele Alli, Eric Dier, and Jesse Lingard in the Premier League shut the gates to Wilshere's hopes of representing the Three Lions in Russia.

Strikers

Icardi and Morata in FC Internazionale Milano v Juventus FC - Serie A

If one had scored 29 goals in 36 games, there's no reason to leave that player out from the national squad for the World Cup. Mauro Icardi, though, finds himself caught in the most unusual circumstances.

Higuain, who had a very disappointing record this season was preferred by Sampaoli ahead of Icardi. Higuain may have the experience, but Icardi surely has the talents to be an irrepressible force. Sampaoli will mostly regret his decision to leave out the Inter Milan forward from his squad.

Sandro Wagner expressed his disbelief in not being able to make it to the German provisional squad and he, too like Nainggolan, decided to hang his boots from the international arena. Ben Yedder, who pretty much single-handedly knocked out Manchester United in the Champions League, was overlooked by Deschamps and so was his French counterpart, Alexandre Lacazette, who had a pretty decent first season at Arsenal, becoming their top scorer this season.

Alvaro Morata has paid the price for a disappointing debut season in the Premier League, after being left out of Spain's 23-man World Cup squad as Lopetegui picked Iago Aspas and Rodrigo Moreno up front, along with Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa.

Edited by Amit Mishra