France attacker Franck Ribery will
miss the World Cup through injury, Les Bleus coach Didier Deschamps has
confirmed.
The Bayern Munich player, 31, has
been ruled out after injuring his lower back in a training session on Friday.
"He is not capable of training
for a few weeks, let alone playing a game," Deschamps told a news
conference.
Lyon's Clement Grenier is also out
with a hip injury, leading to a call-up for Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin.
Ribery pulled out of the training
session after complaining of pain and was later taken for an MRI scan, which
confirmed the extent of the injury.
The three-time French player of the
year has been suffering from lower back pains for several weeks, playing only
once for club or country since 29 April.
He managed 79 minutes in the German
Cup final against Borussia Dortmund on 17 May and missed France's
warm-up matches against Norway and Paraguay.
"He had to stop in training,
the pain was too strong," added former Chelsea midfielder Deschamps.
"We made checks in the
beginning of the afternoon, checks that confirmed the situation has
aggravated."
Ribery, who has won 81 caps, was
instrumental in France's qualifying campaign, scoring five goals for the 1998
world champions.
But his absence could present an
opportunity to either 24-year-old midfielder Schneiderlin or Montpellier
attacker Remy Cabella, who have been called into Deschamps' squad as
replacements for Ribery and Grenier.
France start their Group E campaign
on 15 June against Honduras. Les Blues will also meet Ecuador and Switzerland
in the group stage.
Ribery was voted as the
world's third best player of 2013 after Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano
Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
He helped Bayern win the German
league and cup double in 2013-14. 
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