The German Football Association has confirmed that Mario Götze will be out of action for 10 to 12 weeks after he was injured in Thursday’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Republic of Ireland.

The Bayern Munich forward was replaced in the 35th minute of the match in Dublin, which Ireland won 1-0 to keep alive their hopes of automatic qualification.

After the match, the coach Joachim Löw confirmed that the 23-year-old who scored the winning goal in last year’s World Cup final win over Argentina, would definitely miss next week’s qualifier against Georgia with what is believed to be an injury to his left adductor but the prognosis now appears to be much more serious.

A tweet from the DFB’s Twitter feed on Friday afternoon read: “Mario Götze is expected to be out for ten to twelve weeks. Get well soon, @MarioGoetze!”

That would mean Götze may not play again until after the Bundesliga’s winter break and will also miss Bayern’s two Champions League ties against Arsenal.