Hugo Ekitike's World Cup Hopes Diminished After Injury
Hugo Ekitike’s World Cup hopes were left hanging by a thread on a brutal night for Liverpool in Paris, as the forward was stretchered off in a 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that sealed a 4-0 aggregate Champions League exit.
The 23-year-old crumpled to the turf off the ball, clutching his ankle after what Liverpool fear is a serious Achilles injury. There was no clash, no tackle to blame. Just a sudden collapse and, almost immediately, the grim urgency of the Liverpool medical staff.
They signalled straight away that he could not continue. The stretcher followed, Ekitike’s face twisted in pain as he was carried away, the roar of the Parc des Princes fading behind him and, with it, the immediate future he had been building towards with France this summer.
World Cup dream in jeopardy
For Ekitike, this goes far beyond a bad night in Europe. He is not just a squad player fighting for minutes at club level; he is a 23-year-old pencilled in to feature for France at the World Cup. Now that prospect is in serious doubt.
“Hugo looks really bad but it is difficult to say how bad,” Arne Slot admitted afterwards. “Let’s see. It doesn’t look good, that is clear. I didn’t see him at half-time and after the game he was already home. I have not spoken to him yet.”
The words were cautious, but the tone around Liverpool was anything but optimistic.
Ibrahima Konate, who shares a dressing room with Ekitike for both club and country, cut an emotional figure as he tried to process what he had just seen.
“I think it is bad,” he told Prime Video. “I don’t know, I have heard many things, I have no word to talk about that because with the World Cup coming it is very, very hard for him and I send him my prayers.”
Konate’s reaction said as much as any medical bulletin. This was not just another injury; this was a moment that could redraw the next year of Ekitike’s career.
A night of subplots and setbacks
Irony hung heavy over the tie. Ekitike had spent two years at PSG and arrived back in Paris with a point to prove to Luis Enrique, the coach who had left him out of his Champions League squad in 2023/24. Here he was, finally starting a quarter-final against the holders, on the grandest club stage, only to be forced off before half-time.
He had lined up alongside Alexander Isak, who was himself making his first start in four months after ankle surgery. Liverpool had gambled on pairing them, a bold front line in a desperate attempt to overturn a three-goal deficit.
The plan barely lasted half an hour. Ekitike was gone on 30 minutes, replaced by Mohamed Salah on the right. Salah, left out of the starting XI, had the chance to change the story of the night. He never really did. PSG controlled the tie, Liverpool never found rhythm, and the Egyptian’s introduction passed without the usual sense of inevitability around goal.
By full-time, Liverpool were out, beaten 2-0 on the night and 4-0 across the two legs, and left worrying that their second striker in as many months could be facing a long spell on the sidelines.
PSG count their own casualties
This was not an evening where PSG escaped unscathed. Eight minutes after Ekitike departed, they lost Nuno Mendes, the dynamic left-back limping off to be replaced by Lucas Hernandez. It was another jolt in a first half that never quite settled.
The pattern continued after the break. Desire Doue, the 20-year-old winger who had scored in the first leg and again looked sharp, ended up crashing into the advertising boards under pressure from Dominik Szoboszlai. The impact left him in a heap.
Doue tried to carry on after treatment, but it was clear he was not moving cleanly. His stride was off, his balance gone. Eventually he hobbled out of the contest, with Bradley Barcola sent on in his place. As Doue made his way off, Szoboszlai approached to apologise, having appeared to push him in the back before the collision.
The game, already decided on the scoreboard, had turned into a test of who could simply make it to the finish with their squad intact.
A costly night with a long shadow
For PSG, progression came at a physical price, but they will move on to a Champions League semi-final with momentum and belief.
For Liverpool, the damage runs deeper. A heavy aggregate defeat, a plan ripped up inside half an hour, and the very real possibility that Hugo Ekitike’s World Cup dream has been shattered before it even began.
The next scan will tell the story. The question now is not just when he plays again for Liverpool, but whether he can still be part of France’s summer on the biggest stage of all.
