Extended Russia squad announced for Cyprus and Croatia 2022 World Cup qualifiers

The Russia national team coaching staff have announced an extended list of players to prepare for the final 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Cyprus and Croatia.

A total of 41 players are included in the squad, of which 37 represent RPL teams.

Goalkeepers: Guilherme (Lokomotiv), Matvey Safonov (Krasnodar), Soslan Dzanaev (Sochi), Nikita Khaykin (Bodo/Glimt, Norway), Ilya Lantratov (Khimki)

Defenders: Igor Diveev (CSKA), Georgi Dzhikiya (Spartak), Maksim Osipenko (Rostov), Vyacheslav Karavaev, Aleksey Sutormin, Dmitry Chistyakov, Danil Krugovoy (all Zenit), Ilya Samoshnikov (Rubin), Sergey Terekhov (Sochi), Fedor Kudryashov (Antalyaspor, Turkey), Arsen Adamov (Ural)

Midfielders: Dmitry Barinov, Rifat Zhemaletdinov, Konstantin Maradishvili (all Lokomotiv), Maksim Mukhin, Ilzat Akhmetov (both CSKA), Aleksandr Golovin (Monaco), Aleksandr Erokhin, Daler Kuzyaev, Andrey Mostovoy (all Zenit), Aleksey Miranchuk (Atalanta, Italy), Arsen Zakharyan, Daniil Fomin (both Dynamo), Aleksey Ionov, Aleksandr Chernikov (both Krasnodar), Denis Glushakov (Khimki), Roman Zobnin, Zelimkhan Bakayev (both Spartak), Daniil Glebov, Dmitry Poloz (both Rostov), Roman Ezhov (Krylia Sovietov)

Forwards: Fedor Smolov (Lokomotiv), Anton Zabolotny (CSKA), Konstantin Tyukavin (Dynamo), Gamid Agalarov (Ufa), Ivan Sergeev (Krylia Sovetov)

According to head coach Valery Karpin, the final squad will be announced on 1 November, and it will include approximately 26-27 players.

On 11 November, Russia will host Cyprus at the Gazprom Arena, and three days later will meet Croatia in Split. Two matchdays before the end of the qualifiers, Russia are in first place in Group H with 19 points.