And then there were 26...

The announcement of Bert van Marwijk’s 26-man Socceroos training squad - to be whittled down to 23 by June 4 – signals more than just a national dearth of strikers. It means our World Cup opponents are going through the same pain we are (hopefully).

We've recapped the 26-man Socceroos squad below in case you feel like a brave comparison, but rather than focus on our own issues, skip ahead to see the problems the Socceroos won’t be facing in Russia.

SOCCEROOS FULL SQUAD (26 players)

Goalkeepers: Mathew Ryan (Brighton and Hove Albion), Brad Jones (Feyenoord), Danny Vukovic (KRC Genk)

Defenders: Trent Sainsbury (Grasshoppers Zurich), Aziz Behich (Bursaspor), Milos Degenek (Yokohama F Marinos), Mark Milligan (Al-Ahli), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney Wanderers FC), Matthew Jurman (Suwon Bluewings), James Meredith (Millwall), Fran Karacic (Lokomotiva Zagreb), Joshua Brillante (Sydney FC)

Midfielders: Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa), James Troisi (Melbourne Victory), Tom Rogic (Celtic FC), Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town), Jackson Irvine (Hull City),

Attackers: Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets), Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City FC), Tim Cahill (Millwall), Robbie Kruse (VfL Bochum), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin), Tomi Juric (FC Luzern), Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds)

 

PERU

Paolo Guerrero is arguably the biggest exclusion in our group so far, with the Peruvian captain suffering an extension of his doping ban that will keep him out of Russia.

Guerrero – who’s the nation’s leading goalscorer and was equal top scorer in World Cup qualifying – tested positive for an ingredient in cocaine after Peru’s qualifier against Argentina last October.

23-year-old former Real Madrid man Christian Benavente – popularly known as the ‘Peruvian Ronaldinho’ is another shock exclusion for Los Incas.

FULL SQUAD (24 players)

Goalkeepers: Pedro Gallese (Veracruz), Jose Carvallo (UTC), Carlos Caceda (Municipal)

Defenders: Luis Abram (Velez Sarsfield), Luis Advincula (Lobos), Miguel Araujo (Alianza Lima), Aldo Corzo (Universitario), Nilson Loyola (Melgar), Christian Ramos (Veracruz), Alberto Rodriguez (Junior Barranquilla), Anderson Santamaria (Puebla), Miguel Trauco (Flamengo)

Midfielders: Pedro Aquino (Lobos), Wilmer Cartagena (Veracruz), Christian Cueva (Sao Paulo), Edison Flores (Aalborg), Paolo Hurtado (Vitoria Guimaraes), Sergio Pena (Granada), Andy Polo (Portland Timbers), Renato Tapia (Feyenoord), Yoshimar Yotun (Orlando City)

Forwards: Andre Carrillo (Watford), Raul Ruidiaz (Morelia), Jefferson Farfan (Lokomotiv Moscow)

DENMARK

The Danes haven’t suffered the hard yards yet, only naming their 35-man squad on May 15, but there are already a few exclusions, which are bound to happen when you’ve got to pack in talent like Nicklas Bendtner.

Huddersfield star Phillip Billing fails to make the grade, while very few of the talented young Danes that made the quarterfinal at the 2016 Rio Olympics have matriculated into the national side, with Edigeison Gomes and Lasse Vibe punished for their Chinese Super League cash-grabs.

Danish coach Age Hareide has never managed a side at an international tournament and plays a very direct style, so it’s no surprise to see an experienced squad relying on the defensive presence of Simon Kjaer, Andreas Christensen and Mathias Jorgensen.

Meanwhile, the big-men up front come courtesy of Yussuf Poulsen, Nicolai Jorgensen and Bendtner – each one over 1.9 metres tall.

FULL SQUAD (35 players)

Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester), Jonas Lossl (Huddersfield), Frederik Ronow (Brondby), Jesper Hansen (FC Midtjylland)

Defenders: Simon Kjaer (Sevilla), Andreas Christensen (Chelsea), Mathias Jorgensen (Huddersfield), Jannik Vestergaard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Andreas Bjelland (Brentford), Henrik Dalsgaard (Brentford), Peter Ankersen (FC Copenhagen), Jens Stryger (Udinese), Riza Durmisi (Real Betis), Jonas Knudsen (Ipswich), Nicolai Boilesen (FC Copenhagen)

Midfielders: William Kvist (FC Copenhagen), Thomas Delaney (Werder Bremen), Lukas Lerager (Bordeaux), Lasse Schone (Ajax), Mike Jensen (Rosenborg), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Daniel Wass (Celta Vigo), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Southampton), Mathias Jensen (FC Nordsjaelland), Michael Krohn-Dehli (Deportivo La Coruna), Robert Skov (FC Copenhagen)

Forwards: Pione Sisto (Celta Vigo), Martin Braithwaite (Bordeaux), Andreas Cornelius (Atalanta), Viktor Fischer (FC Copenhagen), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig), Nicolai Jorgensen (Feyenoord), Nicklas Bendtner (Rosenborg), Kasper Dolberg (Ajax), Kenneth Zohore (Cardiff).

FRANCE

Didier Deschamps – a controversial figure at the best of times – skipped straight to the point with his 23-man World Cup squad and he wasn’t afraid to let rip in the forward third.

Manchester United star Anthony Martial will feel hard done by from his omission, the winger was in fine form until the arrival of Alexis Sanchez forced him out of the Red Devils starting lineup, and eventually out of World Cup contention.

Alexandre Lacazette pays the price for Arsenal’s poor results this season, while Dimitri Payet may be regretting his return to Ligue One – denied a final reckoning. Les Bleus also scrap bolter Mathieu Debuchy, Mamadou Sakho, the injured Laurent Koscielny, alongside Kingsley Coman and Adrien Rabiot.

It means France will take a relatively unproven defensive line to Russia; eight players with an average age of 24 and just over 100 caps between them. But the starlets in France’s squad are just another reminder that the land of cheese and snails has arguably the greatest youth production in the world.

FULL SQUAD (23 players)

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain);

Defenders: Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Adil Rami (Marseille), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid);

Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Ngolo Kante (Chelsea), Steven Nzonzi (Sevilla);

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Florian Thauvin (Marseille), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Thomas Lemar (Monaco)