France winger Franck Ribery ruled out of World Cup

France’s World Cup ambitions were dealt a significant blow when winger Franck Ribery failed to overcome a back injury and was ruled out of the squad on Friday.

Coach Didier Deschamps hoped Ribery would play a part in the friendly against Jamaica on Sunday, but the Bayern Munich winger was replaced by Montpellier winger Remy Cabella.

Cabella was on the reserve list and has made just one substitute appearance for France.

In another setback for Deschamps, attacking midfielder Clement Grenier was also withdrawn with a recurrence of a groin injury that has hampered him all season for Lyon.

“We have to remain ambitious,” Deschamps said. “Obviously with Ribery at 100 percent we’re a better team, but we’ll try and be a good team without him.”

The 23-year-old Grenier tore his right groin in training on Thursday and has been replaced by Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin, who has never played for France.

“I’m very sad for them,” Deschamps said. “I wasn’t expecting this. If they were here it’s because I was counting on them, and the signs were very positive.”

Deschamps said both players were distraught when they realized they will not be on the plane to Brazil.

“How do you think (they felt)? They’re missing out on the World Cup,” Deschamps said. “Of course there are worse things in life, but they are the first to be affected by it.”

The 31-year-old Ribery missed the previous two friendlies - a 4-0 win against Norway and a 1-1 draw against Paraguay on Sunday - but Deschamps was optimistic he would recover in time to play against Jamaica. Ribery had shown “positive signs of improvement” this week after increasing “the intensity of his work,” Deschamps said.

But that was when Ribery was training alone, and when he stepped up his routine in a bid to be ready to join in with his teammates, he suddenly pulled up in pain on Friday.

“Franck had felt a lot better but his situation got much worse as we started to try and get him to take part in collective training,” Deschamps said. “He is unable to train for a few weeks now and even less so to play.”

His final appearance of the season for Bayern was as a substitute in the German Cup final win against Borussia Dortmund on May 17. He had been rested since the 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the return leg of their Champions League semifinal on April 29.

Ribery has 16 goals in 81 appearances for France and is the team’s best attacking player. That mantle now rests with Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.

Ribery was third to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in voting for the world’s best player in January.

It is a particularly bitter blow for Ribery considering how he had turned public opinion back in his favor, following a spectacular fall from grace at the last World Cup in 2010, when he was perceived to be a ringleader of France’s infamous training ground strike and banned for three matches by the French Football Federation.

Deschamps must wait for FIFA’s medical officers to validate his request to include Cabella and Schneiderlin in his World Cup list. They were set to join up with the squad at the Clairefontaine training camp late Friday.

France flies out to Brazil on Monday, with spirits dampened following the loss of their talismanic player.