World Cup favourite Germany announced its provisional 27-man squad for the upcoming tournament in Russia, and the most glaring omission is that of Borussia Dortmund attacker Mario Gotze.
The German FA (DFB) announced the squad Tuesday, with national team manager Joachim Low also penning a contract extension with Die Mannschaft.
Capped on 63 occasions, Gotze, 25, scored the winning goal at the 2014 World Cup but has since faced a plethora of complications. A metabolic illness saw his first season back at Dortmund in 2016-17 limited to just 11 appearances.
Gotze's injury-plagued teammate Marco Reus was included in the squad, marking an opportunity for the player who has missed the last two major tournaments through injury.
🇩🇪🏆 #ZSMMN #WM2018 #DieMannschaft pic.twitter.com/cTPkH2PWRA
— Die Mannschaft (@DFB_Team) May 15, 2018
Also included are veteren forward Mario Gomez, injured first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and uncapped Freiburg striker Nils Petersen, whose 15 goals this season were second in the Bundesliga to Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski.
Joining Gotze on the outside looking in is Arsenal centre-half Shkodran Mustafi and Bayern forward Sandro Wagner.
Per FIFA rules, all World Cup squads must be trimmed to 23 by the June 4 deadline, with Germany kicking off its tournament June 17 against Mexico.
Here's a look at Low's provisional squad:
GK: Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain)
DF: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Hector (FC Koln), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
MF: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain), Leon Goretzka (Schalke), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Sebastian Rudy (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)
FW: Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Nils Petersen (Freiburg), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
