Argentina World Cup Roster 2014: Full 26-Man Squad and Starting 11 Projections

Update from Thursday, May 22

Argentina boss Alejandro Sabella has cut four players from his 30-man preliminary World Cup squad, leaving just three more names to be chopped ahead of the tournament.

The following players saw their dreams dashed, reported by Sky Sports:

Player	Club
Franco di Santo	Werder Bremen
Fabian Rinaudo	Sporting Lisbon
Gabriel Mercado	River Plate
Lisandro Lopez	Benfica

Original Text

After consecutive quarterfinal exits from the World Cup, Argentina gear up for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with their sights set on redemption.   

Back on South American soil for the first time since 1978, when they won as hosts, La Albiceleste are poised to make a deep run this summer. 

Led by one of the planet's top players in Lionel Messi, Argentina will carry lofty expectations into a favorable group draw. After landing in the same group as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria and Iran, Argentina manager Alejandro Sabella was quick to express his relief, per Telam, via ESPN FC:

"

We are not in a group of death and the travelling is not too bad. We have drawn a group we are happy with. Brazil is a very big country with huge differences in climate and for us the journeys will be short -- otherwise, we’d have had to deal with a lot of travel and temperature changes.

"

Unsurprisingly, many experts are projecting Argentina to run the table in Group F and easily advance to the knockout stage. But the pressure to succeed is often an overlooked factor in a tournament of this magnitude, as noted by football journalist Danilo Colasimonho:

Will it be a triumphant return to South America for the two-time World Cup champions or another disappointing showing on the sport's biggest stage? 

Only time will tell, but with Argentina's 30-man roster announced, let's take a look at who will be representing the South American giants in Brazil this summer.

World Cup 2014 Roster 

Position	Player
GK	Sergio Romero
GK	Mariano Andujar
GK	Agustin Orion
DF	Ezequiel Garay
DF	Federico Fernandez
DF	Pablo Zabaleta
DF	Marcos Rojo
DF	Jose Maria Basanta
DF	Hugo Campagnaro
DF	Martín Demichelis
MF	Fernando Gago
MF	Lucas Biglia
MF	Javier Mascherano
MF	Angel Di Maria
MF	Maximiliano Rodriguez
MF	Ricardo Alvarez
MF	Augusto Fernandez
MF	Enzo Perez
FW	Sergio Aguero
FW	Lionel Messi
FW	Gonzalo Higuain
FW	Ezequiel Lavezzi
FW	Rodrigo Palacio

Projected Starting XI 

Position	Player	Club
GK	Sergio Romero	Monaco
D	Pablo Zabaleta	Manchester City
D	Federico Fernandez	Napoli
D	Ezequiel Garay	Benfica
D	Jose Maria Basanta	Monterrey
M	Javier Mascherano	Barcelona
M	Angel di Maria	Real Madrid
M	Lucas Biglia	Lazio
F	Lionel Messi	Barcelona
F	Gonzalo Higuain	Napoli
F	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City

Argentina's biggest strength clearly lies at the top of their lineup. With Messi, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain on board, there may not be enough touches to go around. 

Although Aguero and Higuain have each scored 20-plus goals on the international stage, Messi's 37 trump every other player on the roster and are sure to guarantee him a spot in the starting XI. After all, only Gabriel Batistuta (56 goals from 1991 to 2002) has scored more goals for the Argentina national squad than Messi. 

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Javier Mascherano is another name to watch for in the starting lineup. The Barcelona midfielder, who will be 30 in June, is closing in on 100 career appearances for Argentina and brings tremendous leadership and poise to the table. 

No active player has more career appearances for La Albiceleste than Mascherano.

Elsa/Getty Images

In goal, 27-year-old Sergio Romero seems like the obvious choice. The Monaco goalkeeper has 44 appearances since 2009. 

Defensively, Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and Napoli's Federico Fernandez appear to be locks. The veteran duo have combined to make nearly 60 international appearances and are unlikely to be overwhelmed by the moment in Brazil.

Regardless of what Argentina's starting XI looks like for their Group F opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are sure to be plenty of familiar faces in the mix and notable star power on display. 

Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter.