Germany handed a surprise call-up to Borussia Dortmund teenager Youssoufa Moukoko in their World Cup squad as 2014 World Cup winner Mario Gotze marked a sensational return to the national team set up after five years.
Germany coach Hansi Flick announced his 26-man squad for the tournament in Qatar with the 17-year-old Moukoko, who has scored six times in the Bundesliga this season, included.
"Youssoufa is lively and quick player. We are really happy for him," Flick said.
Werder Bremen forward Niclas Fuellkrug also earned a spot after a stellar season with 10 goals so far and following the absence of the injured Timo Werner and Lukas Nmecha.
But 30-year-old midfielder Gotze's return will no doubt hog the headlines with the 2014 final scorer back to his best with a return to the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt this season.
"Mario Gotze is there. 2017 was the last time. Mario is totally happy and so are we to have him. We all know he is an exceptional player. He has been performing at a very high level in the last matches," Flick told a news conference.
Bayern Munich provided a strong midfield core with Thomas Mueller, teenager Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich.
Keeper Manuel Neuer will lead the team and remains first choice for the fourth consecutive World Cup.
Four-time winners Germany are looking to make amends for their shock first round loss in 2018 and kick off their Group E matches against Japan on 23 November.
They next face Spain four days later and Costa Rica on 1 December.
Germany are leaving for Oman on Monday where they will play their final warmup game on 16 November before flying on to Doha.
Dortmund captain Marco Reus and defender Mats Hummels, however, missed out with the former failing to recover from yet another injury in time.
Reus had also missed the 2014 World Cup after suffering an injury on the eve of their departure for Brazil where they won the title.
"He tried everything to catch this train. It hurts us because we could have used his quality," Flick said.
GERMANY SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Defenders: Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Antonio Ruediger (Real Madrid), Niklas Suele (Borussia Dortmund), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Lukas Klostermann, Armel Bella Kotchap (Southampton), Christian Guenter (Freiburg)
Midfielders: Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Mueller (all Bayern Munich), Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Mario Gotze (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Forwards: Kai Havertz (Chelsea), Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund), Niklas Fuellkrug (Werder Bremen), Karim Adeyemi Borussia Dortmund)
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez has included injured striker Romelu Lukaku and playmaker Eden Hazard in his squad, saying he will give the former "every second" to regain his fitness for the tournament.
Lukaku has been suffering with a hamstring injury which, coupled with a thigh problem earlier this season, means he has played just twice since August and is currently sidelined for his club Inter Milan.
But Martinez has previously stated that as long as Lukaku could feature in one of the team's Group F games against Canada, Morocco or Croatia, he would take him to the tournament.
Having named four players on a stand-by list - Bryan Heynen, Alexis Saelemaekers, Dodi Lukebakio and Jason Denayer - he has until 24 hours before Belgium's first game against Canada on 23 November to draft them into the squad if anyone is not fit.
"He (Lukaku) is not completely fit medically, that is clear, but the last three days has been very positive. We will give Romelu every second to be fit," Martinez told reporters on Thursday.
"At this stage, we feel he will be able to take part in at least one of those three (Group F) games. But we will keep assessing and have up until 22 November to make a decision.
"His situation is similar to (Axel) Witsel's in the run-up to the previous European Championship. Or Vincent Kompany's in 2018 (ahead of the World Cup).
"It is not an exceptional situation for us. We want him to play as big a role as he can give."
Hazard has been mostly on the sidelines at Real Madrid this season and has not played in La Liga since September having fallen out of favour with coach Carlo Ancelotti.
However, he is a talismanic figure for Belgium and Martinez has set aside concerns with his match fitness and form.
"I am looking for Eden to come as captain of the squad and show what an incredible player we have. He is enjoying his football, I can see that, the only concern is the match fitness."
Martinez has largely gone with his tried and tested players, but made some wildcard picks, including Everton midfielder Amadou Onana, who he says provides an x-factor.
"It is his profile, it has been refreshing to see his qualities," the coach said.
"He is completely different from what we have. We have our defensive midfielders, playmakers and attacking midfielders, but he brings physicality and a different profile that is more like Marouane Fellaini in 2018."
BELGIUM SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois, Simon Mignolet, Koen Casteels
Defenders: Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Leander Dendoncker, Zeno Debast, Arthur Theate, Wout Faes
Midfielders: Hans Vanaken, Axel Witsel, Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana, Kevin De Bruyne, Yannick Carrasco, Thorgan Hazard, Timothy Castagne, Thomas Meunier
Forwards: Romelu Lukaku, Michy Batshuayi, Loïs Openda, Charles De Ketelaere, Eden Hazard, Jeremy Doku, Dries Mertens, Leandro Trossard
Poland manager Czeslaw Michniewicz left out Torino midfielder Karol Linetty from his squad.
The 27-year-old midfielder has earned 42 caps for Poland since making his debut in 2014, but Michniewicz found no room for him in the squad due to fierce competition.
Poland captain Robert Lewandowski is one of four attackers in the squad, along with Arkadiusz Milik, Krzysztof Piatek and Karol Swiderski.
Other experienced players missing include Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Jakub Moder, who is out with an injury, and defender Maciej Rybus who was dropped from the Poland squad after joining Russian club Spartak Moscow in June.
There had been speculation that Michniewicz would name four goalkeepers but he opted for three, leaving out FC Copenhagen's Kamil Grabara and Cercle Brugge's Radoslaw Majecki.
Michniewicz included 34-year-old veteran Kamil Grosicki, who has earned 86 caps for the national team, and now plays in the Polish club Pogon Szczecin. The midfielder played his first game for Poland back in 2008.
He will be joined by 35-year-old Legia Warsaw defender Artur Jedrzejczyk who was called up despite not playing for Poland since 2019.
Aston Villa's defensive duo Jan Bednarek and Matty Cash are included, along with Birmingham City's Krystian Bielik, who missed the whole of World Cup qualification except their playoff win against Sweden due to a torn knee ligament.
The tournament will be Poland's ninth World Cup finals appearance after they failed to make it out of their group in Russia four years ago.
Poland, who were drawn in Group C for Qatar, open their World Cup campaign against Mexico on 22 November, before matches against Saudi Arabia and Argentina.
POLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus), Bartlomiej Dragowski (Spezia), Lukasz Skorupski (Bologna)
Defenders: Jan Bednarek (Aston Villa), Kamil Glik (Benevento), Robert Gumny (FC Augsburg), Artur Jedrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw), Jakub Kiwior (Spezia), Mateusz Wieteska (Clermont), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Matty Cash (Aston Villa), Nicola Zalewski (AS Roma).
Midfielders: Krystian Bielik (Birmingham City), Przemyslaw Frankowski (Lens), Kamil Grosicki (Pogon Szczecin), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Al-Shabab), Jakub Kaminski (VfL Wolfsburg), Michal Skoras (Lech Poznan), Damian Szymanski (AEK Athens), Sebastian Szymanski (Feyenoord), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli), Szymon Zurkowski (Fiorentina).
Forwards: Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona), Arkadiusz Milik (Juventus), Krzysztof Piatek (Salernitana), Karol Swiderski (Charlotte FC)
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Christian Pulisic headlines a young United States squad determined to show they belong on the biggest stage after failing to qualify for the 2018 tournament.
Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie made the cut despite lingering concerns over a thigh injury, along with goalkeeper Matt Turner, Lille forward Tim Weah and Inter Miami CF defender DeAndre Yedlin.
"This is the revenge tour, if you want to call it that," said Yedlin, the lone World Cup veteran on the squad.
Little has gone as hoped for the Americans ahead of their World Cup opener against Wales on 21 November, with injuries having plagued their squad and Pulisic getting limited playing time in the Premier League for Chelsea.
They failed to record a shot on goal in their penultimate warm-up match, a 2-0 defeat by Japan in September. Days later, the far lower-ranked Saudi Arabia held them to a 0-0 draw.
"It's a little bit underrated how this young group has developed, how this program has developed," head coach Gregg Berhalter told reporters.
"We virtually started with a new player pool (in) 2018 and now we're back at the World Cup. And I think the final determination on this group - and I've said this before - will be at the World Cup."
Pulisic is the charismatic face of a nation eager to drum up enthusiasm for the sport among fans more interested in baseball and basketball, with the US set to host the tournament in four years' time, alongside Canada and Mexico.
But there was no lack of vigour among the American fans on Wednesday, where VIPs packed into a trendy Brooklyn concert hall for the squad announcement.
It is the second-youngest men's team the United States have sent to a World Cup, with an average age of 25 years, 175 days.
"We have a lot of good experience with each other," Fulham defender Antonee Robinson told reporters. "The only thing I see is hunger, determination, intensity, energy."
Two notable snubs were forward Ricardo Pepi, who has scored five goals in the last seven games with FC Groningen, and Middlesbrough keeper Zack Steffen, whom analysts had widely expected to vie with Turner for the starting job in goal.
Berhalter told reporters he was leaning toward Turner to start after receiving encouraging reports from club Arsenal on his recovery from a minor groin injury.
The U.S. also face England and Iran in Group B.
USA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Matt Turner (Arsenal)
Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC), Tim Ream (Fulham), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami CF), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
Midfielder: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Tyler Adams (Leeds), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC)
Forwards: Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Tim Weah (Lille), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor)
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Morocco included Hakim Ziyech in their squad as coach Walid Regragui gambled on the fitness of several players and sprung some surprises.
Ziyech has started only twice for Chelsea this season but is one of nine players who return for a second successive World Cup after being included in the squad in Russia four years ago, where Morocco were eliminated in the group stage.
Ziyech had been the subject of a dispute between the Moroccan federation and previous coach Vahid Halilhodzic after the Chelsea winger and Bayern Munich defender Noussair Mazraoui were left out for disciplinary reasons last year.
Halilhodzic resisted calls by FA chief Fouzi Lekjaa to restore them to the squad and was subsequently dismissed in August with former Morocco international Regragui named his successor after he won the African Champions League with Wydad Casablanca in May.
Regragui also kept faith with West Ham defender Nayef Aguerd, who missed the first three months of the season with an ankle injury, and Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri, who has also struggled this season.
There was a surprise call-up for uncapped Belgian-born teenage midfielder Bilal El Khannouss, who has helped Racing Genk to a runaway lead in Belgium this season, and Serie B club Bari striker Walid Cheddira, who is Italian-born but made his debut for Morocco in September.
Morocco compete in Group F at the World Cup against Belgium, Canada and Croatia.
MOROCCO SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla), Munir El Kajoui (Al Wehda), Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti (Wydad Casablanca)
Defenders: Nayef Aguerd (West Ham United), Yahia Attiat Allah (Wydad Casablanca), Badr Benoun (Qatar SC), Achraf Dari (Stade Brest), Jawad El Yamiq (Real Valladolid), Achraf Hakimi (Paris St Germain), Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich), Romain Saiss (Besiktas)
Midfielders: Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina), Selim Amallah (Standard Liege), Bilal El Khannouss (Racing Genk), Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Casablanca), Azzedine Ounahi (Angers), Abdelhamid Sabiri (Sampdoria)
Forwards: Zakaria Aboukhlal (Toulouse), Soufiane Boufal (Angers), Ilias Chair (Queens Park Rangers), Walid Cheddira (Bari), Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla), Abde Ezzalzouli (Osasuna), Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al Ittihad), Amine Harit (Olympique Marseille), Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea).
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