Hugo Ekitike was forced off in the first half against Paris St-Germain. France manager Didier Deschamps has confirmed striker Hugo Ekitike will miss the World Cup after suffering a suspected Achilles injury during Liverpool's Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain on Tuesday.

The France forward 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."

Ekitike joined Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt last July and has been one of their standout performers in a difficult season for the club, with 17 goals and six assists in all competitions.

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."

In January, Ekitike became just the second player after the iconic Kenny Dalglish to score in five different competitions during their debut campaign with Liverpool. He made his France debut last September and was set to be part of Deschamps' squad for this summer's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Liverpool have suffered a number of setbacks this season, with both teenage centre-back Giovanni Leoni and full-back Conor Bradley ruled out for the rest of the season with injuries. Keeper Alisson Becker and midfielder Wataru Endo also remain sidelined, while Sweden striker Alexander Isak returned earlier this month from an ankle injury that he suffered in December.

It is a big blow for the French. I think Ekitike would have started for them on the left-hand side at the World Cup in a 4-2-3-1 along with Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele in that front four.

Deschamps never really talks about players being injured but today he has released this statement through the French Federation and I think that shows how bad they feel about this injury. We are waiting to see if it is a partial rupture or full rupture of the Achilles and that will decide whether he is out for six months, or more like nine to 12 months.

It is a huge shame, because he was in such great form and he had such a great impact for France in the last international break in the United States, firstly against Brazil [he scored the second goal in a 2-1 win in the USA] and then Colombia [as a substitute] too to an extent. So, it is a huge blow for France but also for him on a personal level because he might not even be back before 2027. And it's also a huge blow I think for Liverpool, not just to finish this season well and make the top five in the Premier League, but also what do they do for next season.

If they go and sign another forward, then when Ekitike comes back they might have a problem with too many options, but they might have to because if he is out for at least nine months - if it is a full rupture - then they will need something else for next season.