Canadian central defender Derek Cornelius is being allowed to depart Rangers FC later this week so he can attend Canada’s pre-World Cup training camp in Charlotte, multiple sources confirm to TSN.
Cornelius, who has not appeared in a match for the Scottish Premiership club since November, will miss the final two games of Rangers season. He is expected in Charlotte by early next week.
Cornelius arrived at Rangers’ Ibrox Stadium at the beginning of September on a season-long loan from Olympique Marseille. Sources also tell TSN that Cornelius’ club future will be determined after the World Cup, but he will not extend his stay with Rangers.
Rangers did not respond to a request for comment.
The 28-year-old from Ajax, Ont., last played for Rangers in November against Dundee FC. Cornelius then picked up a muscle injury in the 33rd minute of Canada’s 2-0 win over Venezuela on Nov. 18.Cornelius missed months because of the injury.
Prior to the March international window, Canadian coach Jesse Marsch revealed that Cornelius was healthy but training with Rangers academy players, away from the club’s first team.
Rangers manager Danny Röhl confirmed shortly after that Cornelius was training away from the first team, allowed Cornelius to meet up with Canada early before the March window, and stressed that he and Cornelius would have a conversation after the spring friendlies.
“I had two conversations in the last couple of days with Derek. I will have a conversation when he comes back from the national team again,” Röhl said on March 20. “All these things between Derek and me, it’s between us, this is crucial. I have my principles; this is very important.”
Marsch told the media he attempted to act as a kind of mediator between Cornelius and Röhl.
Cornelius played 15 minutes against Iceland and 32 minutes against Tunisia during the international window, returned to Scotland, and hasn’t played since as reports began to surface that Röhl and Cornelius had a falling out.
Cornelius’ game readiness is critical less than a month from the World Cup because Canada’s defence has been decimated by injuries over the past eight months.
On the left side of Canada’s defence, initial reports indicated captain Alphonso Davies would need four to five weeks to recover from his recent left hamstring injury, but sources are telling TSN that might be optimistic.
And though Toronto FC insists Richie Laryea, Davies’ usual deputy on the left, will be at Canada’s camp and fit for the World Cup, there is no return-to-play date yet for his thigh injury.
Meanwhile on the right, Alistair Johnston is only now starting to build up his minutes again with Celtic after missing 183 days with his own hamstring injury.
Perhaps most critical is the health of Cornelius’s central defence partner, Moïse Bombito, who suffered a broken leg last October after dealing with a stress fracture in the same leg.
Sources told TSN last week that Bombito continues to train with his club Nice and there have been no setbacks, although there’s still no sense if the 26-year-old will play at all before Canada’s opening World Cup match on June 12.
Bombito and Cornelius played together In 13 of Marsch’s first 15 matches as Canada’s head coach, including Canada’s run to the 2024 Copa América semifinal.
Public consensus began to grow that Bombito and Cornelius would be Canada’s backline pairing all the way through the World Cup. But when injury struck Bombito, Cornelius showed his own defensive reliability and offensive capabilities from free kicks.
With Bombito out of the Canadian picture for the past 14 months, Cornelius made four straight starts during Canada’s fall friendlies, helping keep clean sheets against Romania, Wales, and Colombia. And against Wales, Cornelius scored a picture-perfect free kick to give Canada a 1-0 win.
The rest of Canada’s squad is expected in Charlotte by the end of May. Canada will then travel to Edmonton to play Uzbekistan on June 1 before heading to Montreal to face Ireland on June 5.
Canada’s final 26-man World Cup roster is due by FIFA’s June 1 deadline. Canada Soccer chose not to publicly reveal its 55-man provisional roster earlier this week.
Countries can draw outfield replacements for the final 26-man roster from the larger provisional squad up until their first World Cup match. Replacement goalkeepers can be taken from the 55-man squad at any time.
Canada opens its World Cup in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12.
