Italy and Monaco striker Christian Vieri will miss the World Cup Finals after it was confirmed he requires surgery on a knee injury.

The 32-year-old Azzurri star has not played first-team football since damaging his left knee during the Championnat Ligue 1 match against Paris St Germain at the end of March.

A statement from Monaco football club on Monday confirmed Vieri must now have to undergo surgery, ruling him out of Marcello Lippi’s squad for Germany in June.

“Considering the nature of the injury, Christian Vieri will now undergo surgery in the next few days,” the statement said.

Vieri, who joined Monaco from AC Milan in January, played in both the 1998 World Cup in France and the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, scoring five and four goals respectively.

He was also a member of the Italy squad which failed to get past the group stages at Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Italy have been drawn in Group E alongside Ghana, Czech Republic and the USA in the Finals which kick-off on June 9.

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