Giuseppe Rossi left out of Italy's World Cup squad

Fiorentina striker Giuseppe Rossi has been left out of Italy's final 23-man squad for the World Cup in Brazil.

The 27-year-old, who also missed out on a place at the South Africa tournament four years ago, has only recently returned to action following a knee injury and failed to make an impact in a 71-minute spell in the team's friendly against the Republic of Ireland yesterday evening.

Rossi had been Serie A's leading goal scorer in the 2013-14 campaign before injuring his knee, which kept him on the sidelines for four months.

AC Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo also misses out after breaking his leg last night, while Cristian Maggio loses out to Matteo Darmian, having been named in the provisional 30-man squad last month.

Squad:

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Mattia Perin (Genoa), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Ignazio Abate (AC Milan), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Damian (Torino), Mattia de Sciglio (AC Milan), Gabriel Paletta (Parma)

Midfielder: Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Daniele de Rossi (Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Parolo (Parma), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)

Strikers: Mario Balotelli (AC Milan), Antonio Cassano (Parma), Alessio Cerci (Torino), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)