{"id":261458,"date":"2025-11-14T01:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T01:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/261458\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T01:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T01:01:10","slug":"video-hugo-ekitike-scores-his-first-france-goal-in-ukraine-rout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/261458\/","title":{"rendered":"(Video) Hugo Ekitike scores his first France goal in Ukraine rout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hugo Ekitike will never forget the night of 13 November 2025, both on an individual and a collective level.<\/p>\n

The Liverpool striker was named on the substitutes\u2019 bench for France in their World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on Thursday night, with Les Bleus knowing that a win would confirm their place at the finals next summer.<\/p>\n

The match was in the balance at 1-0 when the 23-year-old was brought on midway through the second half, but three further goals ensured that Didier Deschamps\u2019 side eventually cruised to victory.<\/p>\n

Ekitike scores first goal for France<\/p>\n

Two minutes from the end of normal time, Ekitike burst forward on a lengthy solo run from the halfway line to the edge of the penalty area.<\/p>\n

He then played a neat one-two with Kylian Mbappe (a scorer of two goals for France tonight) before slotting an assured first-time finish beyond Anatoliy Trubin to round off the scoring for Les Bleus, in the process netting his first goal for his country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Hugo(Photo by Franco Arland\/Getty Images)Ekitike puts his hand up for a place in World Cup squad<\/p>\n

Ibrahima Konate spoke earlier this week<\/a> of how he cajoled Ekitike into putting in additional gym work at Liverpool to earn his first France call-up in September, and the motivational speech has certainly had the desired effect!<\/p>\n

The run from deep and the execution of the finish illustrated the confidence that\u2019s coursing through the veins of the striker, who\u2019s currently the Reds\u2019 top scorer for the season so far, making an immediate impact since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer.<\/p>\n

In addition to his goal against Ukraine, the 23-year-old won four of his six duels and completed 100% of his dribbles, and only the woodwork denied him a brace in a highly impactful appearance off the bench for his country (Sofascore<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Given the extraordinary attacking wealth at Deschamps\u2019 disposal, Ekitike will need to keep producing the goods if he\u2019s to carve out a starting berth for Les Bleus, but his brilliantly-taken goal tonight should go some way to ensuring him a seat on the plane to North America next summer.<\/p>\n

You can view Ekitike\u2019s goal against Ukraine below, taken from FS2\u2019s match coverage and shared via @TheGoalsZone<\/a> on X:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8\ud83c\udf0d | GOAL: HUGO EKITIKE MAKES IT FOUR FOR FRANCE!<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 France 4-0 Ukraine \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 pic.twitter.com\/fBZOFxibIg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 TheGoalsZone \u2728 (@TheGoalsZone) November 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

You can watch Slot\u2019s full post-Man City press conference via\u00a0Empire of the Kop<\/a>\u00a0on YouTube:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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