France will be without captain Patrick Vieira (knee) to go with injured striker Thierry Henry and defender Willy Sagnol, for European qualifiers against Ukraine on June 2 and Georgia on June 6, both at home.

30-year-old Inter Milan midfielder Vieira, who recently recovered from a hamstring problem, picked up the latest setback when he collided with Roma's Rodrigo Taddei in the Italian Cup final last week.

"He's totally and definitely out, we can't take him," France coach Raymond Domenech told AFP.

"We're not going to rush him, what's important is that he can play again for his club," he added.

Group B is making an interesting reading with the Les Bleus, Ukraine and Scotland – all on 12 points – are at the top. Italy are fourth on 10 points and along with France have played five matches each.

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