LIVERPOOL, England — Hugo Ekitike was ruled out of the World Cup for France after sustaining a leg injury in Liverpool’s Champions League quarterfinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain, France coach Didier Deschamps confirmed Wednesday.
The French forward’s suspected Achilles tendon injury occurred in the 27th minute of Tuesday’s second-leg match at Anfield. He was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Ekitike has been one of Liverpool’s top players this season and has scored 19 goals for club and country. He scored for France in its 2-1 win against Brazil last month.
Liverpool coach Arne Slot initially said after the 2-0 defeat, which sealed a 4-0 aggregate victory for PSG, that “It looks really bad.”