France manager Didier Deschamps has confirmed forward Hugo Ekitike will miss the 2026 World Cup after suffering a suspected Achilles injury during Liverpool’s Champions League loss to Paris St-Germain on Tuesday.
The France striker left the pitch at Anfield on a stretcher, and Liverpool fear a long absence for the 23-year-old, which could also rule him out of the start of next season.
Ekitike went for scans on Wednesday, which are expected to confirm the extent of the damage.
“Hugo suffered a serious injury on Tuesday evening against PSG. The severity of his injury will unfortunately prevent him from finishing the season with Liverpool and participating in the World Cup,” confirmed Deschamps in a statement published by the French Football Federation.
“Hugo is one of the dozen young players who have made their debuts with the national team in recent months. He had perfectly integrated into the group, both on the pitch and off it. This injury is a huge blow for him, of course, but also for the France team.
“His disappointment is immense. Hugo will regain his top form, I’m convinced of it. But I wanted to express all my support to him, as well as that of the entire staff. We know he’ll be fully behind the France team, and we’re all thinking of him very strongly.”
Speaking after the quarter-final second-leg loss by PSG, head coach Arne Slot said of his frontman’s injury: “I think we could all see that it didn’t look well and didn’t look good. Let’s wait and see what it will be. But we could all see it didn’t look good.
“In the second half, he went home so I haven’t seen him yet. Losing a game is already very hard, especially in the way we lost it, but again – as it seems to be – losing a player is something we’ve had so many times this season.
“It’s especially very hard for him because you never want to be injured, especially not at this moment of time in the season.”
