The Chelsea star was working against the clock to shake off a knee problem before the gigantic competition, which gets underway next month.

However, it turned out that Essien could only reach full recovery by the end of July.

"An evaluation by a combined team of medical experts from the Ghana Football Association and Chelsea Football Club revealed that Essien will not make full recovery until the end of July," a GFA statement reads.

The 27-year-old's last competitive match for Ghana was during this year's African Cup of Nations.

He participated in the early stages of that tournament although he wasn't fully fit after tearing a hamstring in December.

Afterwards, Essien injured his knee and has not featured for either Ghana or Chelsea ever since.

Ghana lie in the World Cup Group D alongside Australia, Serbia and three-time world champions Germany.