Diogo Jota injury: Liverpool forward ruled out of World Cup due to ‘serious’ calf problem

Jota is set to be out for ‘months’ in a further injury blow to Liverpool this season

Jota was stretchered off during Liverpool’s win over Man City and will miss the 2022 World Cup (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Diogo Jota will miss the World Cup with a serious calf injury that will rule him out for months.

The forward, who has won 29 caps for Portugal, was injured in the final minutes of Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday. He underwent a scan on Monday, though he will not require surgery.

Jurgen Klopp is unsure when he will be available again, but Liverpool have eight matches before the World Cup, including a Premier League clash with Tottenham and Champions League ties with Ajax and Napoli.

Klopp said: “It is really not good news for Diogo. He will miss the World Cup, a pretty serious injury to a calf muscle and now the process of recovery starts and that is it. It is very sad news.

“He will be out for a long time, months. We will see. I don’t want to put a number on it because I always hope in the middle of rehab there is a positive development.”

The Liverpool manager felt that Jota realised immediately that he would not able to go to Qatar but said the winger was upbeat.

He added: “It is Diogo and he is surprisingly okay so far. He is an incredibly smart boy and very reflective and I think he knew it when they carried him off the pitch. We spoke after the game and he explained what happened and I think he knew already it was a serious one and could impact his World Cup dreams.”

Liverpool face West Ham on Wednesday without Ibrahima Konate, who Klopp believes could be back in training at the weekend.

Curtis Jones, who is yet to play this season, was on the bench against City but not fit to feature, but is stepping up his recovery, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are back in full training.

Jota wrote on Twitter: "After such a good night at Anfield mine ended in the worst way! In the last minute one of my dreams collapsed.

“I will be one more supporting from the outside, club and country, and fighting to be back as soon as possible. You'll Never Walk Alone."