Watch: Ekitike's First

Hugo Ekitike helped book France’s place at the 2026 World Cup as he scored a brilliant first goal for his country in their 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine on Thursday night.

Ekitike is a newcomer to Didier Deschamps’ France squad, making his debut in September and earning five caps for Les Bleus so far.

Thursday night brought his latest outing and the Liverpool striker marked it with a stunning strike that saw him kick off the move with a run from his own half.

Watch Ekitike’s first-ever France goal

After driving towards the penalty area with the ball at his feet, evading three challenges, Ekitike played a one-two with Kylian Mbappe before finishing low beyond goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

Ekitike wheeled away in celebration, with the significance of his first-ever senior goal for France clearly not lost on the 23-year-old.

That goal made it 4-0 on the night and with a win France secured their spot at next summer’s World Cup, joining England as the only European nations qualified so far.

Ekitike describes goal as “symbolic”

After opening his account at the Parc des Princes, home of former club Paris Saint-Germain, Ekitike described scoring his first goal at the stadium as “symbolic.”

“This goal is special,” he told publications including Le Parisien.

“It’s a stadium I know well. Scoring my first goal for the French national team here is somewhat symbolic.

“The coach was happy for me. He showed faith in me by giving me those minutes, I hope I repaid him, but I felt he was pleased.”

He added: “I feel proud, especially to have contributed to this qualification.

“I watched the last World Cup on TV. [It is] a great feeling of pride, and I hope to continue like this.”

Liverpool’s No. 22 came off the bench with 23 minutes to play and Get French Football News‘ Bastien Cheval described him as “a menace throughout” and hailed his new partnership with Mbappe as being “full of promise.”

Ibrahima Konate was an unused substitute in Thursday’s qualifier, with Deschamps instead opting for William Saliba as Dayot Upamecano’s centre-back partner.

It is likely that both Konate and Ekitike are rotated into the side for Sunday’s trip to Azerbaijan, which could give the striker another opportunity to link up with Mbappe.

Click here to read article