Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal squad, Renato Sanches out
As well as the Real Madrid forward, four Liga players are among the 35 on Fernando Santos' preliminary list, but the Euro 2016 Young Player of the Tournament misses out.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos has announced his preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup with Cristiano Ronaldo the star name among the 35-player list.
As well as the Real Madrid forward, four other Liga-based players have made the early cut: Vitorino Antunes (Getafe) Nelson Semedo and André Gomes (Barcelona) and Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia).
Besiktas defender Pepe is also included after missing the two most recent friendly matches against Egypt and the Netherlands with a broken toe but there is no place for Renato Sanches, who has spent the season on loan at Swansea from Bayern Munich. The 20-year-old was named Young Player of the Tournament at Euro 2016 as Portugal landed a first major tournament honour but has seen his stock fall dramatically since then.
Also absent from Santos' squad is Sporting defender Fabio Coentrao, with the on-loan Real Madrid player claiming he is too tired to represent his country in Russia.
Portugal will open their campaign in Russia on June 15 against Spain and will take on Tunisia and Algeria in two pre-tournament warm-up matches on May 28 and June 7 respectively.
Portugal preliminary squad for 2018 World Cup
Keepers: Anthony Lopes (Lyon), Beto (Goztepe), Rui Patrício (Sporting).
Defenders: Antunes (Getafe), Bruno Alves (Rangers), Cedric Soares (Southampton), Joao Cancelo (Inter), José Fonte (Dalian Yifang), Luis Neto (Fenerbahçe), Mario Rui (Napoli), Nelson Semedo (Barcelona), Pepe (Besiktas), Raphael Guerreiro (Dortmund), Ricardo Pereira (FC Porto), Rolando (Marseille), Rúben Dias (Benfica).
Midfielders: Adrien Silva (Leicester), André Gomes (Barcelona), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting), Joao Mario (West Ham), Joao Moutinho (Monaco), Manuel Fernandes (Lokomotiv), Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton), Sergio Oliveira (FC Porto), William Carvalho (Sporting).
Forwards: André Silva (Milan), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Éder (Lokomotiv), Gelson Martins (Sporting), Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia), Nani (Lazio), Paulinho (SC Braga), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas), Ronny Lopes (Monaco).
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