A whole host of countries have suffered from injury hell ahead of the start of the World Cup in South Africa this Friday.

Rio Ferdinand is to miss out on a fourth tournament with England.

The captain was injured in a collision with Emile Heskey in England’s first training session in Rustenburg on Friday and the Manchester United defender was ruled out for up to six weeks following a scan.

Tottenham’s uncapped Michael Dawson has already flown out to replace Ferdinand.

Didier Drogba is a major doubt for the Ivory Coast, after fracturing his elbow during the Elephants’ 2-0 friendly defeat of Japan on Friday.

The Chelsea striker underwent surgery yesterday and Ivory Coast manager Sven Goran Eriksson will be hoping his captain pulls through, as they are in Group G- or the ‘Group of Death’- which also contains Brazil and Portugal.

The Ivory Coast federation (FIF) announced that today’s operation was ‘a success’ but have not yet confirmed how long the forward is likely to be sidelined for.

Meanwhile Michael Essien misses out for Ghana after aggravating the hamstring injury that curtailed much of his season with Chelsea and also saw him play just 45 minutes of his country’s African Cup of Nations campaign last January.

And Holland winger Dutch Arjen Robben will undergo a scan on his hamstring which will determine his World Cup hopes after picking up the injury in a 6-1 friendly thrashing of Hungary while trying a backheel.

He will not travel to South Africa with the rest of the Dutch party but has not been ruled out of the tournament.

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Tags: african cup of nations, arjen robben, brazil, chelsea, didier drogba, Emile Heskey, england, ghana, Holland, hungary, ivory coast, Japan, manchester united, michael dawson, michael essien, portugal, Rio Ferdinand, rustenburg, south africa, sven goran eriksson, tottenham, world cup