Injured Cherki ruled out of France´s World Cup qualifiers

Rayan Cherki faces two months on the sidelines after suffering an injury, ruling him out of France’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Cherki was absent for Manchester City’s 2-1 loss to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday due to the injury.

Pep Guardiola confirmed in a post-match interview that the Frenchman faced “seven or eight weeks” on the sidelines, and as such will be expected to return in early November.

According to France’s official X account, Cherki has sustained a “quadriceps tear” and has dropped out of Didier Deschamps’ squad for the matches against Ukraine and Iceland.

Didier Deschamps has had to rule out Rayan Cherki (torn quadriceps).

To replace him, the coach has called up Hugo Ekitike!#FierdetresBleus pic.twitter.com/krxMoTPShO

— French Team (@FrenchTeam) August 31, 2025

Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike, who has netted three goals since his big-money move to the Premier League champions, has received a maiden call-up to the national team.

Cherki signed for City in June for an initial fee of £30.5m from Lyon and netted during their run to the last 16 of the Club World Cup.

He also scored on his Premier League debut, a 4-0 rout against Wolves, before starting the loss to Tottenham last weekend.