Davies likely to miss Canada’s World Cup opener with injury, says coach

TORONTO: Injured Canadian captain Alphonso Davies will likely miss his team’s World Cup opener next month but is expected to feature at some point during the tournament, men’s national team head coach Jesse Marsch said on Monday.

Davies suffered a hamstring injury on May 6 during Bayern Munich’s second leg of the Champions League semi-final, and Marsch was asked if that setback would keep the captain out of his team’s World Cup opener on June 12 in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I think Alphonso will play in the World Cup,” Marsch told reporters at Canada’s training camp in Charlotte, North Carolina before addressing Davies’ chances for the opener. “No, I don’t think he’ll be ready quite on June 12 … but we’ll see.”

Earlier on Monday Davies was among the 32 players named to Canada’s training camp but Marsch said the player would not be in Charlotte and would instead join the team on the eve of their June 1 friendly against Uzbekistan in Edmonton.

Davies has suffered a number of injury setbacks that have seen him miss a full year of international duty.

The speedy left back suffered an ACL tear while playing for Canada in March 2025. He returned for Bayern Munich that December but tore muscle fibre in his right hamstring in February before a hamstring strain in March kept him out of two Canada friendlies.

Canada will announce their official World Cup roster at 7pm ET (2300 GMT) on Friday.

After their World Cup opener, Canada will head to Vancouver for games against Qatar.

© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd

المصدر: New Straits Times