{"id":378368,"date":"2025-11-14T13:12:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/378368\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T13:12:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:12:17","slug":"watch-ekitikes-first-ever-france-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/378368\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: Ekitike’s First-Ever France Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hugo Ekitike<\/a> helped book France\u2019s 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.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ekitike is a newcomer to Didier Deschamps\u2019 France squad, making his debut in September and earning five caps for Les Bleus so far.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Watch Ekitike\u2019s first-ever France goal<\/p>\n

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pic.twitter.com\/ESSnXzuxme<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 brawlerutdtop (@brawlerutdtop) November 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

That goal made it 4-0 on the night and with a win France secured their spot at next summer\u2019s World Cup, joining England as the only European nations qualified so far.<\/p>\n

Ekitike describes goal as \u201csymbolic\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ISTANBUL,<\/p>\n

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 \u201csymbolic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis goal is special,\u201d he told publications including Le Parisien<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a stadium I know well. Scoring my first goal for the French national team here is somewhat symbolic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI feel proud, especially to have contributed to this qualification.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched the last World Cup on TV. [It is] a great feeling of pride, and I hope to continue like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s No. 22 came off the bench with 23 minutes to play and Get French Football News<\/a>\u2018 Bastien Cheval described him as \u201ca menace throughout\u201d and hailed his new partnership with Mbappe as being \u201cfull of promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ibrahima Konate<\/a> was an unused substitute in Thursday\u2019s qualifier, with Deschamps instead opting for William Saliba as Dayot Upamecano\u2019s centre-back partner.<\/p>\n

It is likely that both Konate and Ekitike are rotated into the side for Sunday\u2019s trip to Azerbaijan, which could give the striker another opportunity to link up with Mbappe.<\/p>\n

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