Canada’s Ismael Cohn suffered the horrific injury early in the second half of Canada’s 6-0 World Cup win over Qatar in a tackle that earned Asim Madibo a red card.
The midfielder will go straight to the hospital and undergo surgery.
After the tackle, Canadian players and coaches were furious and immediately indicated that Cone may have been seriously injured.
While some players pushed back against their Qatari opponents, Canadian coach Jesse Marsh and his staff could be heard on the broadcast asking the referee in disbelief how the play could be called just a foul. It was later upgraded to a red card.
Madibo put his hands on his head and waved them in the air, apologizing for the harshness of the tackle from behind. Marsh told reporters after the match that Madibo personally apologized to Kone again after the match.
Cone was carried off the field on a stretcher after trainers placed an air cast on his left leg. He waved to Vancouver fans who were shouting his name.
It was Qatar’s second red card of the match, with Homam Ahmad sent off in the 31st minute.
Canadian midfielder Nathan Saliba replaced Kone in the 56th minute. He scored Canada’s fourth goal eight minutes later from a free kick, ran to the bench and was handed a KONE 8 jersey. He held it up as fans cheered the goal.
After the game, Marsh said of the injury, “I could hear the bones breaking.”
The coach added that Kone has been admitted to the hospital and is scheduled to undergo surgery.
“Ismael is such a wonderful kid, imperfect, but that’s why we love him,” Marsh said. “He can do things that other players can’t do. He embodies a lot of what this team is about. He was our best player against Bosnia.”
“He is a great loss to us. Our hearts are with him, but that kid has a great future.”
Mr Marsh added that Mr Madibo had apologized to Mr Cohn for the tackle.
Kone is a dynamic midfielder who was born in Ivory Coast and moved to Montreal at the age of seven. He made his debut with the MLS club in 2021 after coming through CF Montreal’s academy system. He quickly attracted the attention of European clubs and moved to Watford in 2022.
In 2024, Kone joined French powerhouse Marseille for a reported transfer fee of 15 million pounds (approximately 2 billion yen).
After a difficult half-season, Kone joined fellow Ligue 1 side Rennes on loan for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. He then joined Italian club Sassuro on loan, before making the move permanent in February.
This is Kone’s second World Cup, having previously made his World Cup debut in 2022, just months after making his senior international debut in March of the same year.
Kone is 24 years old and just celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, June 16th.
Canada cannot add a new player to its roster to replace Kone.
Changes to the World Cup outfield roster had to be made at least 24 hours before the team’s first game.
However, if the goalkeeper is injured, he can be replaced at any time during the tournament.
Check out USA TODAY Sports’ live group standings, stats and latest standings here.
2026 World Cup Format
The 48 participating countries will be divided into 12 groups of four. Each group plays in a round-robin format, with 3 points awarded for a win and 1 point for a tie. The top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 32 along with the top eight teams in third place. Tie-breaks for group standings will be resolved using the following criteria:
- Most points earned in group matches between the teams
- Advantage in goal difference between the teams in group matches
- Most points scored in all group matches between the teams
- The difference in goals and losses is large in all group stage matches.
- Most points scored in all group league matches
- Highest team behavior score (players and team officials) related to number of yellow and red cards obtained
- Two or more teams tied on points will be ranked according to the latest edition of the FIFA Men’s World Rankings.
world cup group
- Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic
- Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland
- Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
- Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Türkiye
- Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
- Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia
- Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
- Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
- Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway
- Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
- Group K: Portugal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia
- Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
2026 World Cup Team Complete Roster
Main dates of the World Cup
- Group stage: June 11th to June 27th
- round 32: June 28th to July 3rd
- round 16: July 4th to July 7th
- quarterfinals: July 9th to 11th
- Semi-final: July 14th-15th
- 3rd place match: July 18th (Miami Gardens, Florida)
- final:July 19th (East Rutherford, New Jersey)
