كتب : Sherif Tarek
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.