High profile names such as Lazio winger Nani, Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes and many more have been left after Portugal manager Fernando Santos trimmed the 35-man provisional squad to a final 23-man list.

While announcing the final list on Thursday, Santos revealed that it was a hard decision to drop some 2016 European Championship winning players like Nani and Andre Gomes. In his words, he said: “It hurts not to be able to include all the players who were with us in the European Championship.”

“They have all contributed to writing a brilliant chapter in the history of Portuguese football, but I had to make choices that for me make a better puzzle.” he added.

Portugal are in Group B alongside Spain, Morocco and Iran.

Portugal Squad:

Goalkeepers: Anthony Lopes (Lyon), Beto (Goztepe), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon)

Defenders: Bruno Alves (Rangers), Cedric Soares (Southampton), Jose Fonte (Dalian Yifang), Mario Rui (Napoli), Pepe (Besiktas), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Ricardo Pereira (Porto), Ruben Dias (Benfica)

Midfielders: Adrien Silva (Leicester), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon), Joao Mario (West Ham), Joao Moutinho (AS Monaco), Manuel Fernandes (Lokomotiv Moscow), William Carvalho (Sporting)

Forwards: Andre Silva (AC Milan), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson Martins (Sporting Lisbon), Goncalo Guedes (Valencia), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas)