The Liverpool forward was named on the substitutes’ bench for France in their World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on Thursday evening, with Les Bleus knowing a win would confirm their place in next summer’s final.
The match was tied at 1-0 when the 23-year-old was brought on midway through the second half, but three further goals saw Didier Deschamps’ side eventually cruise to victory.
Ekitike scores first goal for France
Two minutes before the end of normal time, Ekitike charged forward on a long solo run from the halfway line to the edge of the penalty area.
He then played a neat one-two with Kylian Mbappe (a two-goal scorer for France tonight) before securing a finish past Anatoliy Trubin for the first time to round off the scoring for Les Bleus. his first goal for his country.
Ekitike raises his hand for a place in the World Cup selection
Ibrahima Konate spoke earlier this week about how he persuaded Ekitike to do extra gym work at Liverpool to earn his first France call-up in September, and the motivational speech certainly had the desired effect!
The run from deep and the execution of the finish illustrated the confidence coursing through the veins of the striker, who is currently the Reds’ top scorer for the season to date and has made an immediate impact since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer.
In addition to his goal against Ukraine, the 23-year-old won four of his six matches and completed 100% of his dribbles, and only the woodwork denied him a brace in a highly impactful performance from the bench for his country (Bank score).
Given the extraordinary attacking wealth at Deschamps’ disposal, Ekitike will need to continue producing the goods if he is to secure a starting place for Les Bleus, but his brilliantly taken goal tonight should go some way to securing him a seat on the plane to North America next summer.
You can watch Ekitike’s goal against Ukraine below, taken from FS2’s match coverage and shared via @TheGoalsZone on X:
🚨🌍 | GOAL: HUGO EKITIKE MAKES FOUR FOR FRANCE!
🇫🇷France 4-0 Ukraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/fBZOFxibIg
— TheGoalsZone ✨ (@TheGoalsZone) November 13, 2025
You can watch Slot’s full post-Man City press conference via Kingdom of the Kop on YouTube:
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