Joe Cole is set for World Cup heartbreak this afternoon when Fabio Capello leaves the Chelsea midfielder out of his provisional 30-man squad.

Capello has ruled out the injured Gareth Barry and is poised to deliver bad news to Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Joleon Lescott, Scott Parker and either Bobby Zamora or Darren Bent.

But the England coach has penciled in Ledley King, Jamie Carragher, Theo Walcott and the uncapped Adam Johnson as he seeks to provide the right balance of youth and experience.

Capello and his chief lieutenant Franco Baldini will not finalise the party who will travel to England's two training camps in Austria next week until after a final meeting at Wembley this morning.

Two summits yesterday narrowed down the options, with the England hierarchy now awaiting the final medical bulletins on the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves and Aaron Lennon.

But unless there is a remarkable reversal of opinion then Cole, arguably England's best player in the 2006 World Cup and who bailed Capello out of a massive hole in his first competitive game against Andorra in September 2008, appears set to be the biggest casualty.

Cole's failure to make a major impression for Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea since returning from the medial ligament injury that wrecked nine months of his career has sealed his fate.

Capello watched Cole make an impressive cameo appearance from the bench as Chelsea destroyed Wigan to confirm the title but it appears it was too little, too late.

Instead, Manchester City winger Johnson will get the chance to show he deserves a place in the final squad of 23 that will be named on June 1 in the training camp and the friendlies with Mexico and Japan.

Aston Villa's Stewart Downing and Shaun Wright-Phillips are also expected to be in the 30 from which the ultimate squad must be chosen under FIFA rules, along with Walcott and Lennon, who seem odds-on to make the final 23.

Capello wants to look at Hargreaves, even though the Manchester United man has played barely 30 seconds for his club since September 2008 following career-threatening knee problems

The Canadian-born midfielder is set to compete with club-mate Michael Carrick and Tottenham's Tom Huddlestone for a seat on the flight to Johannesburg next month, but his fitness will be vigorously assessed after such a long absence.

But Barry appears to have been discounted as Capello's response to questions last night was: "For him it is too long. As for Joe Cole, that is for tomorrow."

Carragher, who has agreed to end his three-year spell of self-imposed international retirement, will be chosen as back-up right-back to his Liverpool colleague Glen Johnson, spelling bad news for veteran Neville and the injury-hit Brown.

With some doubts still over skipper Ferdinand and King, Capello is understood to be ready to name six central defenders, including uncapped Michael Dawson, but not Lescott, who has missed the last two months of City's season.

Zamora, who came to Capello's attention during Fulham's remarkable Europa League run, is under scrutiny with worries over the extent of his Achilles problem and seems to be in a straight fight with Sunderland's Darren Bent for the last striking berth, alongside the likely South Africa quartet of Rooney, Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch and outsider Carlton Cole.

Capello hinted at the issue as he said: "I will have to make two decisions. They are not only just medical decisions. One is a medical report, the other is different."

But the England boss suggested he has no worries about the current condition of Steven Gerrard, despite signs the Liverpool captain is unhappy with events at Anfield.

Capello added: "Some of the players are very important for the manager and I know him very well. I'm sure that Steven Gerrard will be one of the most important players for the World Cup.

"He knows everything that needs to be done during the games in the World Cup.

"Steven is not the only one. For example, when I selected David Beckham, you asked me: 'why do you keep picking him if he only plays 15 or 20 minutes?'

"But he is really important for the dressing room. For some players, it's not just about what they do on the pitch but they will be in the squad for their mentality, for their character and spirit. Their psychology is important."

Probable squad: Green, James, Hart, G Johnson, Carragher, A Cole, Baines, Terry, Ferdinand, King, Jagielka, Upson, Dawson, Lennon, Walcott, Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick, Huddlestone, Milner, Hargreaves, A Johnson, Downing, Wright-Phillips, Rooney, Defoe, Crouch, Heskey, C Cole, Bent