Omitted XI: Best players left off Euro 2016 squads
With the arrival of Tuesday's deadline for Euro 2016 squad submissions, there's been far more speculation about those left off the 24 nations' teams than those selected.
While some countries, like Spain and France, boast an excess of footballing riches, there are lower-profile nations that have also omitted notable players ahead of next month's quadrennial tournament.
Here's a look at a starting XI of the most notable exclusions:
No gaffer had more squad-selection dilemmas than Vicente del Bosque, who omitted Arsenal's Santi Cazorla, Bayern Munich's Javi Martinez, Atletico Madrid's Saul Niguez, Real Madrid's Isco, and mercurial Chelsea forward Diego Costa.
Those are just the players who've made this hypothetical starting XI, with Manchester United's Juan Mata and Atletico duo Gabi and Fernando Torres also missing out. Valencia attacker Paco Alcacer and Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal would likely make most squads as well.
Like Del Bosque, France boss Didier Deschamps faced several squad-selection worries. Real striker Karim Benzema, Nice's Hatem Ben Arfa, and newly eligible Liverpool centre-half Mamadou Sakho are among those to miss out.
Joining that trio of omissions is Lyon goal machine Alexandre Lacazette and teammate Nabil Fekir, Lille full-back Djibril Sidibe, Paris Saint-Germain's Adrien Rabiot, Sevilla striker Kevin Gameiro, and Inter's Geoffrey Kondogbia.
The future is bright for France, as a litany of Under-21 standouts didn't even get a sniff of the senior team. Names like Ousmane Dembele, Maxwel Cornet, Thomas Lemar, Corentin Tolisso, Corentin Jean, and Georges-Kevin N'Koudou. Consider that Bilbao's highly touted defender Aymeric Laporte, Chelsea's Kurt Zouma, and Aston Villa full-back Jordan Amavi are all injured, and Deschamps' sleepless nights may have been far more.
GK: Kevin Trapp (Germany - Paris Saint-Germain)
DF: Nicolas Lombaerts (Belgium - Zenit St. Petersburg), Mamadou Sakho (France - Liverpool), Javi Martinez (Spain - Bayern Munich)
MF: Hatem Ben Arfa (France - Nice), Saul Niguez (Spain - Atletico Madrid), Santi Cazorla (Spain - Arsenal), Karim Bellarabi (Germany - Bayer Leverkusen), Isco (Spain - Real Madrid)
FW: Karim Benzema (France - Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Spain - Chelsea)
Bench: GK - Stephane Ruffier (France - Saint-Etienne); DF - Djibril Sidibe (France - Lille), Nacho Monreal (Spain - Arsenal); MF - Adrien Rabiot (France - Paris Saint-Germain); Youri Tielemans (Belgium - Anderlecht), Juan Mata (Spain - Manchester United); FW - Alexandre Lacazette (France - Lyon)
Sorry, guys: Gabi (Spain - Atletico Madrid), Theo Walcott (England - Arsenal), Paco Alcacer (Spain - Valencia), Jorginho (Italy - Napoli), Nabil Fekir (France - Lyon), Kevin Gameiro (France - Sevilla), Geoffrey Kondogbia (France - Inter), Gokhan Tore (Turkey - Besiktas), Sebastian Giovinco (Italy - Toronto FC), Ruben Neves (Portugal - Benfica), Nacer Chadli (Belgium - Tottenham)