Official World Cup Preliminary Squad Lists (Plus: First Signs of “Unorthodoxy” From North Korea)

May 14th, 2010 | by: Daryl |

1208802_FULL-LND We knew going in that the World Cup preliminary squad announcements this past Tuesday would be a bit messy. The various squads were announced by various media outlets, and things weren’t exactly uniform. As a result there’s some conflicting information out there. Especially because not all coaches played by the same rules.

Some, like Fabio Capello, announced a list of 30. Others, like Dunga, first announced a list of 23, and then announced a further seven names. But that’s really just Dunga being confident (and/or sticking it to Roaldinho). The Brazil coach’s official list that’s been submitted to FIFA is 30 names long. For all intents and purposes, the list of 23 is just in Dunga’s head.

We’ve assembled as much accurate information as possible on our World Cup squad page, and we’ll be doing our best to update that information whenever anything changes. But even we have to hold our hands up and say that the only official source of information here is FIFA. Fortunately, football’s governing body has made the actual list of preliminary rosters available as a PDF.

Interestingly, FIFA lay out in the document exactly how many players each team actually named to their preliminary roster. Dunga really did submit 30, as did mos teams. But – for some reason – five teams did not. Here’s a list of the super-confident teams who submitted a list of less than 30 players:

Germany – 27. I think Jogi Löw did that just to underline to Kevin Kuranyi how little he was wanted.
Mexico – 26. The deal was: 16 domestic based players, 10 European based players.
Slovakia – 29. Because 30 was one too many?
Uruguay – 26. Because Forlan’s collection of hairbands took up four places?
North Korea – 23. I have no idea. Maybe they didn’t know you could submit 30? Or maybe they’re just feeling confident because it’s probably going to be reported that they won the whole thing anyway?

Also according to FIFA: Deadline for final 23 man squad is June 1st at 24:00 hours Central European Time. I know 24:00 hours doesn’t exist, and so do they, but it’s probably the only way to say midnight without people getting confused about which day you mean.

Final list of 23 is limited to players named in the 30. Injured players can be replaced up to 24 hours before the team’s first World Cup match, and replacements for injured players do not have to come from the original list of 30. Which is good news for North Korea, eh?

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Ethan_d_r

I saw Ronaldinho included in Brasil's 30 man – things have become clearer.
Ethan_d_r

Just REGISTERED to post that comment – I don't think it was THAT good a comment really :)
http://www.worldcupblog.org chris

Two underscores is overachieving. A linear nightmare.
Ethan_d_r

I tried just 'Ethan', but someone must've got there first. It must seem as though I'm obsessed with advertising my double-barreled surname, but I keep being forced into it! Honest! There's nothing cool about it – I am well aware!
http://www.theoffside.com/ Daryl

Good news is that you're not stuck with your profile name. If you go into your Disqus profile, you can set it to any display name you like and also set it to link to any website you like. So you don't have to live with underscores for the rest of your life. Unless you really want to.
EdLFC

I like this article.

But really I just wanted to post with a new name. Breathtaking excitement on a Friday for me, as usual.
https://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan

Okay, okay – has the change worked?
https://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan

no
http://www.theoffside.com/ Daryl

It has. Welcome to the non underscore community.
http://twitter.com/EdgarBoccanegra Edgar Boccanegra

I still don't get why Mexico who are playing half a season didn't call 30 instead of 26
https://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan

Yes! It's great to be here! Just had to changed the email account I connected it to though – to the less important one
http://www.theoffside.com/ Daryl

Agree Edgar. I don't see why any team would call less than 30.
http://england.worldcupblog.org/ Rob

Surely 00:00 would be a more accurate way of saying exactly the same thing? Or they could have said 00:01, which would save day confusion. Having said that, I work by the theory that its not the next day untill I go to bed, and get up. Maybe FIFA should work around Sepp's bodyclock in a similar manner – i.e Squads have to be in by the time Sepp gets up on the 1st of June. See how late they leave it.

Re teams picking 30 players – I dunno. The camp is going to be on edge over the next couple of weeks all worried about whether they are actually going or not. The whole calling up 30 players thing seems entirely to set up an extra drama to me. Why not wait and just have the 23 called up on June 1st?
http://www.theoffside.com/ Daryl

Think of it as a first step towards future comment greatness Ethan…
http://www.theoffside.com/ Daryl

Why not wait and just have the 23 called up on June 1st?

If I was Sepp, that's how I'd run it.

I'd also impose the “when I go to bed” squad deadline rule too. Just because I could.
Blanda_Amania

I thought that Ronaldinho didn't make the cut? I'm happy to see his name on the roster… for now?
http://japan.worldcupblog.org/ Aidan

Japan also only named 23 players for their squad last Monday…
http://japan.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/ja...
They did later name 7 reserves – but they are exactly that, reserves. They will only get in if one of the 23 named gets injured, so the final 23 was chosen last week.