Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba may recover from the elbow injury he sustained in a friendly match in 10 days' time - and be fit to play at the World Cup.

Initial reports in France suggested Drogba had been ruled out of the tournament in South Africa after he was forced off the pitch during the first half of a warm-up game against Japan in Sion, Switzerland.

L'Equipe claimed on its website that he was immediately taken to hospital for scans, after which he reportedly said he would play no part in the upcoming tournament in South Africa.

Team-mate Kolo Toure also claimed Drogba told his team-mates that he was out of the World Cup.

But the French newspaper has backtracked and it now appears Drogba will be fit to play in the Elephants' first game of the tournament against Portugal on June 15.

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson also said there was still a chance Drogba could play.

"We are not sure yet, we think it's still a possibility," he said.

Drogba left the Tourbillon stadium with his arm in a cast and a wry smile on his face as he walked to the team bus.

The Chelsea striker went down under a heavy challenge from Japan defender Tulio after 15 minutes which left him spread-eagled on the pitch.

After rising groggily to his feet, the Chelsea forward hobbled off and was replaced by Seydou Doumbia.

His absence disorientated Ivory Coast, who had taken the lead through an own-goal by Tulio three minutes before, but Japan were unable to take advantage and they slumped to a fourth successive defeat, 2-0, after losses to Serbia, South Korea and England.

Playing only their second game under Eriksson, the African side added the second with nine minutes to play through defender Toure.

"It's difficult for us to lose such a really important player," said Toure after news of the injury broke. "I think the news is not the best, maybe he will even not play the World Cup and it's really bad for us. "We are just waiting for the doctor to take the decision because we don't know yet.

"He's such an important player, he's a really important player even if he's not on the pitch, to have him with us, it would be really nice to have us by our side, we hope he will come back.

"He was sad and that's it. We can just see that he was sad and when you say that, you can't ask any more.

"We have some young players who are going to show that they are good."

The Africans face Brazil, Portugal and North Korea in their World Cup group, while Japan will take on Cameroon, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Eurosport / Reuters