Russia coach Fabio Capello today named his final 23-man squad to play in the World Cup finals led by experienced defender Sergei Ignashevich, midfielder Roman Shirokov and forward Alexander Kerzhakov.
The 31-year-old Kerzhakov is the only player in the squad who has previous World Cup experience having been in the squad that competed in 2022, the last time Russia reached the final stages.
Capello trimmed his original squad of 30 down to 25 in mid-May and the two players to miss out on being in the final selection were Denis Cheryshev from Spanish hi-flyers Sevilla and Pavel Mogilevets of Rubin Kazan.
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He named his final squad two days after a 1-1 draw with Norway in a friendly match. Last month Russia defeated Slovakia 1-0 in their first World Cup warm-up match.
All of Capello's squad are from Russian Premier League sides including six from Dynamo Moscow, who finished fourth in the league this season.
Five players represent champions CSKA, who retained their title this season, and four are from runners-up Zenit St Petersburg.
Russia will open their World Cup campaign against South Korea on June 18.