Diogo Jota confirmed to miss out of World Cup with calf injury

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota will miss the 2022 World Cup with a calf injury, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed.

The Portugal attacker went down in the final few seconds of Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester City and had to be stretchered off the field.

There were initial fears that Jota’s injury would be serious enough to keep him out of the World Cup in Qatar, and Klopp has now confirmed the worst.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Wednesday’s clash with West Ham United, the Liverpool boss revealed that the 25-year-old’s injury was “pretty serious” and he would not be able to represent the Selecao next month.

“Not good news about Diogo. He will miss the World Cup, it’s a pretty serious calf muscle injury. Very sad news for the boy, and for us and Portugal,” Klopp said in his pre-match press conference.”

When asked for a timeframe on Jota’s recovery, Klopp added that the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers man would take “months” to get back to full fitness, although he will not need to undergo surgery.

“It’s a big impact. Now we can say that because he will be out for a long time, we talk about months. We will see, I don’t want to put a number on it. It will be long,” Klopp added.