With just over one week left before their opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Canada’s men’s national team still has some question marks when it comes to the health of their lineup.
Defenders Alphonso Davies and Moïse Bombito are front and centre in those discussions.
Davies, the 25-year-old Bayern Munich talent, suffered a hamstring injury last month during Champions League action, putting his World Cup status in doubt.
After announcing on Tuesday he would miss June 12’s opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto, Davies and manager Jesse Marsch walked back those comments on Wednesday, indicating anything is possible at this stage.
“I know that he’s had some injuries and I know that the plan is that he won’t be back for the first match, but’s he’s a freak athlete, man, and this guy is a competitor,” Marsch said on Wednesday during an appearance on TSN 1050’s OverDrive.“Without trying to put pressure on him, I really believe in Alphonso, and so we’re taking it day-by-day. We’re really trying to monitor where we are with everyone, but specifically Alphonso, he’s shown to be a quick healer over the years. We obviously know what an incredible athlete he is, so I’m not counting him out of anything.”
“We obviously want to get him [Davies] back and we want to get him back at his top form, but we don’t want to risk setbacks,” Marsch added. “I know the kind of competitor Alphonso is and I know the kind of athlete, so he’s going to play in this tournament.”
Davies trained on his own in Montreal on Wednesday as the national team gets set to battle Ireland on Friday in their last pre-tournament friendly before the World Cup.
Davies was also seen jogging at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on Monday night ahead of Canada’s 2-0 friendly win over Uzbekistan.
Talking to reporters after his workout on Wednesday, Davies also left the door open a tad, regarding his potential availability for the clash against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The first game is coming up pretty quickly,” he said. “We understand how important the first game is, but we understand recovery is always an important thing. If I’m recovering as good as possible, let’s see. If not, then there’s no need to rush. Just keep continuing the recovery.”
“Anything is possible in life,” Davies added. “For me, it’s (all) depending on how the recovery is going, how these next few days or this week leading up to the game goes.”
After the game on June 12, Canada will play Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24 in their Group B finale. Both games will take place at BC Place in Vancouver.
Davies, who grew up in Edmonton, scored one goal over 23 games with Bayern Munich this season.
He has 15 goals over 58 career games with the national team, including scoring Canada’s first-ever goal at the men’s World Cup against Croatia at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Latest on Bombito
Marsch also gave a small update on Bombito during his Wednesday appearance on OverDrive.
The 26-year-played 30 minutes during Monday’s game against Uzbekistan, but walked off gingerly and had ice on the same leg he broke in October of 2025 while playing for his club team Nice of Ligue 1.
Bombito didn’t train on Wednesday as Marsch indicated he could be in the lineup for Friday’s contest against Ireland.
“Moïse is feeling a little bit of sensitivity where he broke his tibia,” explained Marsch. “We’re still really hopeful. [He] had a day off today to really help recover and regenerate a little bit, so that he can be ready to go for his next match against Ireland.”
The Montreal native has 20 career appearances for the Canadian men’s national team, dating back to 2023.
Marcelo Flores was also lost for the tournament last weekend due to a ruptured ACL and still needs an official replacement ahead of the start of the tournament.
