Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal hit with major blow ahead of FIFA World Cup

Portugal have been handed a massive blow ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup as Liverpool forward Diogo Jota has been ruled out of the November/December competition with a calf injury.

The 25-year-old forward was stretchered off in the final minutes of Liverpool's side's 1-0 Premier League win against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed the news ahead of the Reds Premier League clash on Wednesday, adding that Jota will be out for a "long time" and "we talk about months".

"[It is a] pretty serious injury of the calf muscle. Sad news for the boy, us and Portugal," the German manager said ahead of Liverpool's Wednesday clash at Anfield.

"He's surprisingly ok so far. He's an incredibly smart boy. I think he knew it when we carried him off the pitch. We passed each other after the game and he explained pretty much what had happened. 

"I think he knew it was a serious one and could be pretty impactful for his World Cup dreams.

The Portugal international who made his national team debut by coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo in a 6–0 win against Lithuania in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier, was in line to make his first appearance at the World Cup in Qatar.

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

"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."

A hamstring injury had kept Jota out of action at the beginning of the season, but on September 3 against Everton, he made his comeback as a substitute. During the international break later that month, he participated for Portugal and scored in a 4-0 victory over the Czech Republic.