Brazil's 23-man FIFA World Cup squad announced along with 7 players on standby; Kaka, Lucas, Coutinho and Ronaldinho miss out

Brazil’s 23-man squad for the World Cup

Luiz Felipe Scolari has announced Brazil’s 23-man squad for the World Cup, while most of the players who won last year’s Confederations Cup have been included, some big names like Kaka, Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Moura and Ronaldinho have been omitted.

Scolari has also announced a standby list of 7 players who will act as reinforcements for the initial 23-man squad.

Former AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato, Liverpool’s Lucas Leiva among others have also failed to make the cut. Six players in the 23-man squad are currently plying their trade in the English Premier League. While, 17 of these players also featured in the squad for last year’s Confederations Cup triumph over Spain.

The only shock inclusion in the squad is possibly that of Napoli defender Henrique. Henrique has been included in the squad as the fourth defender, and was competing against the likes of Atletico’s Miranda and PSG youngster Marquinhos.

The players will meet up on the 26th of May in Rio de Janeiro where they are scheduled to play two friendlies against Panama and Serbia before kicking off their World Cup campaign against Croatia on the 12th of June.

The complete squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Júlio César (Toronto FC), Jéfferson (Botafogo), Victor (Grêmio)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Internazionale), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Maxwell (Paris Saint-Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Dante (Bayern Munich), Henrique (Napoli)

Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Paulinho (Tottenham), Ramires (Chelsea), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Oscar (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Hernanes (Internazionale), Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Forwards: Fred (Fluminense), Neymar (Barcelona), Hulk (Zenit St Petersburg), Jô (Atlético Mineiro)

Standby: Diego Cavalieri (Fluminese), Miranda and Felipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Rafinha (Bayern Munich), Lucas Moura (PSG), Lucas Leiva (Liverpool), Alen Kardec (Sao Paulo)