France’s Ekitike to miss World Cup after Liverpool Champions League injury
Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike had to be stretchered off in the Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
France international Hugo Ekitike is set to miss the FIFA World Cup 2026 after rupturing his Achilles tendon in Liverpool’s Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
French newspapers Le Parisien and L’Equipe reported the news of the 23-year-old’s injury on Wednesday.
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The striker has scored 17 goals in all competitions this season for Liverpool since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt for 69 million pounds ($93.58m) last July.
Ekitike pointed to his Achilles tendon as medical staff attended to him before he was carried off on a stretcher at Anfield, where Liverpool lost 2-0 in their quarterfinal second leg, exiting the competition with a 4-0 aggregate defeat on Tuesday night.
The French football federation (FFF) was not immediately available for comment when contacted by the news agency Reuters.
The World Cup is being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11-July 19.
Ekitike’s two international goals for France – against Ukraine in a World Cup qualifier and Brazil in a friendly – came in his country’s last four games.
He has appeared eight times in total, but started three of the last six matches and has been seen as the main understudy to Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe.