2018 World Cup: Argentina leave out Mauro Icardi but include Paulo Dybala

Argentina’s 23-man squad for the Fifa World Cup will feature a strong attacking line-up that includes Barcelona’s star striker Lionel Messi and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero.

Juventus duo Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain are also in the national squad for the finals in Russia, but Inter Milan star striker Mauro Icardi will miss out.

Although Icardi finished the season as joint top-scorer in Italy’s Serie A, that was not enough to see him selected by Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli to join “one of the most potent strike forces heading to Russia”, says The Independent.

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Sky Sports reports that Aguero is one of six Premier League players selected by Sampaoli. The others are Aguero’s Manchester City teammate Nicolas Otamendi, Manchester United duo Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo, West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini and Chelsea’s Willy Caballero.

Announcing his squad line-up, Sampaoli said that Argentina’s star player, Messi, is “ready” for the finals. According to Goal.com, Sampaoli said: “I’ve talked to Messi and I [found] him very excited about what’s coming, physically he’s in a good moment.”

Argentina are in World Cup group D with Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria.

Argentina World Cup squad

• Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (Manchester United), Willy Caballero (Chelsea), Franco Armani (River Plate)
• Defenders: Cristian Ansaldi (Torino), Gabriel Mercado (Sevilla), Federico Fazio (Roma), Marcos Rojo (Manchester United), Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City), Marcos Acuna (Sporting Lisbon)
• Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Hebei China Fortune), Maximiliano Meza (Independiente), Angel Di Maria (PSG), Manuel Lanzini (West Ham), Giovani Lo Celso (PSG), Ever Banega (Sevilla), Lucas Biglia (AC Milan), Eduardo Salvio (Benfica), Cristian Pavon (Boca Juniors)
• Forwards: Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)