Italy centre-back Alessandro Nesta has been ruled out of Sunday's World Cup final against France because of a persistent groin problem.

The AC Milan star suffered the injury during the Azzurri's final group stage game against Czech Republic and sat out the knockout matches against Australia, Ukraine and Germany.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi had hoped Nesta would recover in time to play some part in the Berlin showpiece, but an assessment of his condition on Thursday morning failed to deliver good news.

Team doctor Enrico Castellaci confirmed: "He's definitely not available."

Lippi is now likely to stick with the centre-back partnership of Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi which performed so well in the dramatic semi-final victory against Germany.