Two Key Players to Miss Canada's World Cup Opener

Canada will be without two key players for their opening World Cup match, a tournament they are co-hosting with the USA and Mexico. Captain Alphonso Davies and fellow defender Moise Bombito will be unavailable to head coach Jesse Marsch for Friday's Group B opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The match kicks off at 10:00 PM Bulgarian time in Toronto.

Davies, who scored Canada's first-ever World Cup goal in their 4-1 defeat to Croatia in Qatar in November 2022, sustained a hamstring injury during Bayern Munich's Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain (1-1) last month. Bombito is still recovering from a fractured leg. He started in the friendly against Uzbekistan on June 2 (2-0) but felt pain and was substituted after approximately 30 minutes. He subsequently missed the next warm-up match against Ireland (1-1) on June 6. His participation in the entire World Cup remains uncertain.

Midfielder Ismael Kone is also a doubt for Friday's fixture after missing the team's final training session due to a fever.

Canada is aiming for their first-ever World Cup victory, having lost all six of their group stage matches in their only previous appearances at the 1986 and 2022 tournaments. The other two teams in Group B, Qatar and Switzerland, will begin their campaigns on June 13 at 10:00 PM Bulgarian time.