Veteran Cahill leads Australia's provisional World Cup squad

Sydney, May 15 (IANS) Veteran footballer Tim Cahill will lead Australia's 26-man provisional squad for the World Cup, Football Federation Australia announced on Tuesday.

Cahill, a 38-year-old who currently plays for Millwall F.C. in England, is the top scorer of Australia with 50 goals in 105 matches, reports Efe.

The pre-tournament squad will begin its training on May 19 in Antalya, Turkey, and play friendlies against the Czech Republic on June 1 in St. Polten, Austria and Hungary on June 9 in Budapest.

The 26 players were chosen from a 32-member preliminary squad. Coach Bert van Marwijk will announce on June 3 the final list of 23 players who will play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

"Overall, I believe we have named a strong and ambitious squad for our training camp in Turkey and friendly against Czech Republic in Austria," van Marwijk said in a statement.

Australia will face European powerhouse France on June 16 in Kazan, the first match in Group C, which also includes Denmark and Peru.

The squad: Daniel Arzani, Aziz Behich, Joshua Brilliante, Tim Cahill, Milos Degenek, Jackson Irvine, Mile Jedinak, Brad Jones, Tomi Juric, Matthew Jurman, Fran Karacic, Robbie Kruse, Mathew Leckie, Massimo Luongo, James Meredith, Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy, Andrew Nabbout, Dimitri Petratos, Josh Risdon, Tom Rogic, Nikita Rukavytsya, Mathew Ryan, Trent Sainsbury, James Troisi, Daniel Vukovic.