Zakharyan was not included in the final squad of the Russian national team for friendly matches

Spanish Real Sociedad midfielder Arsen Zakharyan was not included in the final squad of the Russian national team for friendly matches with the national teams of Peru and Chile. The final list of 30 players was published on the website of the Russian Football Union (RFU) on November 7.

The squad includes 30 players, including Matvey Safonov (PSG), Igor Diveev (CSKA), Alexander Silyanov (Lokomotiv), Alexander Golovin (Monaco), Alexey Miranchuk (Atlanta United), Konstantin Tyukavin (Dynamo) and Ivan Sergeev (Dynamo). Arsen Zakaryan was not called. The head coach of the Russian national team, Valery Karpin, did not explain his decision.

"As we explained when announcing the expanded squad, at the upcoming training camp we focus primarily on players who are familiar with our requirements and approach to work. There will be no personnel experiments and surprises this time," Karpin said.

Akron goalkeeper Vitaly Gudiev and Baltika goalkeeper Maxim Borisko received their first call-up to the national team.

"Gudiev and Borisko have shown that goalkeepers are able to play a key role and influence the result — to achieve victory even in those meetings where the opponent looked preferable," said goalkeeper coach Vitaly Kafanov.

The Russian national team will play friendly matches against Peru on November 12 in St. Petersburg and Chile on November 15 in Sochi. These will be the last games for the national team in 2025.

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On October 27, the RFU website published an expanded list of the national team, which included 39 players. It traditionally includes players who have performed best in recent matches for their clubs and whose abilities and potential are well known to the coaching staff, the publication noted.

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