A soccer player for Canada suffered a game-stopping injury in front of a home crowd during the team’s historic group stage victory at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

During the Thursday, June 18 match between Canada and Qatar, Ismaël Koné, 24, was left speechless after opposing midfielder Assim Madibo went for the soccer ball and cracked Koné’s leg instead during the second half.

Multiple videos circulated on social media showing the moment Madibo, 29, went for the ball, knocking Koné to the ground in the process. 

Though the sound in the stadium was too loud at BC Place in Vancouver to hear what was happening on the field, cameras zoomed in on the incident, showing Koné appearing to be shocked.

He covered his mouth and looked at his leg, which was visibly misaligned. 

A nearby player from Qatar who was nearly involved in the collision walked over to Koné and signaled for help as others on the field quickly gathered around the fallen player.

“That tackle was nasty, Saliba’s face after his goal says it all. Did it for Kone❤️👏👏👏,” one person wrote. Another added, “Canada 🇨🇦 is behind you KONE! Wishing you a speedy recovery and now Canada is even more motivated to win!! Let’s go boys.”

Saliba, 22, replaced Koné after the in-game injury, and a VAR (video assistant referee) review resulted in Madibo being given a straight red card and ejected from the game for a dangerous play, ESPN reported.

Saliba scored just minutes after entering the game, helping Canada defeat Qatar 6-0. This was Canada’s first-ever tournament win and tied the mark for the biggest margin of victory for a World Cup host nation, reports ESPN.

In a postmatch news conference, Canada head coach Jesse Marsch said he hadn’t talked to Koné yet, but confirmed that the athlete was in the hospital, and that he would see him after the press conference. 

“We’ll see exactly what we decide to do for him,” Marsch said, per ESPN. “His family is with him at the hospital, so his mother’s there and his family.”

He also said the injury was something they “could all hear.”

“So your heart goes out to him and everybody’s a little shaken by the whole experience because of the nature of the injury and also because Ismaël is a big part of the heart of our team. It will be a big loss for us. He’s been an amazing player in these last two games,” Marsch said.

Canada’s next match is against Switzerland on Wednesday, June 24.

People

This was an ominous start from the World Cup favourites. A spluttering first-half performance gave way to a second period characterised by a combination of physical intensity and technical ability that few club sides, never mind nations, can match. Add a record-breaking double for Kylian Mbappé and some superlative playmaking from Michael Olise, and this was very much a job well done for France.

After Mbappé tucked away a superb Olise pass just after the hour, a match that had started as a keenly fought contest faded to a procession. When the captain crashed his second of the day past Édouard Mendy in a chaotic period of added time, he secured both victory and his place as France’s all-time leading scorer, a 58th goal for his country edging him ahead of Olivier Giroud.

This was all grist to the mill for Didier Deschamps, who denied having given his team a dressing-down after an error-strewn first half but did admit to “speaking my mind”. He said the key change in the second half was positional, as Olise moved more centrally to influence the play. But it was clear the players had also been encouraged, gently or otherwise, to raise their level.

“I am frank with my players, I tell them how things are,” Deschamps said. “We could have done much better on many levels in the first half. I wasn’t shouting or screaming, I’ve grown wiser with age, but my players do have to make the right decisions in defending and come into their own when attacking.”

Deschamps said he moved Olise inside, at the expense of Ousmane Dembelé (who was later substituted), because “I thought it would give us more connection”, adding: “The more Michael touches the ball the better it is. It created more danger.”

As for Mbappé he was, in his coach’s words, “ruthlessly efficient”. The 27-year-old is now the third highest goalscorer in World Cup history behind Ronaldo Nazario and Miroslav Klose, and was not immune from the mistakes that characterised the first half. But, Deschamps said: “If you want to miss the first half again and score two in the second half, that’s OK with me.”

Senegal should likely have held the lead at half time, with Mike Maignan saving well from Sadio Mané (and avoiding an inadvertent own goal after the ball deflected off his heel) before Ismaïla Sarr wasted a clear opportunity from 10 yards out. But when France re-emerged from the break they did so with a marked increase in intensity and, by the hour, the game had changed decisively.

France were now the dominant team and it felt as if a goal could arrive at any minute. So when Mbappé burst down the right and forced Mané into a sliding challenge inside the penalty area, there was a collective holding of the breath. While Alireza Faghani awarded a corner, video footage seemed to suggest a foul but, after the Iranian-Australian referee was directed towards the monitor, he chose not to change his mind to the surprise of almost everyone in the ground.

The decision, however unusual, did not affect the direction of this match as Olise and Mbappé continued to purr. Almost immediately the former burst through the middle of the pitch and slipped a ball beyond the Senegal defence which the latter just could not reach. No matter, because the next time the ball came to the Bayern player, some 30 yards out from goal, he bisected two lines of opposition defence with a visionary pass cutting right to left across the field. Coming left to right, meanwhile, was Mbappé. He beat everyone to the ball, turned back on himself and finished with consummate ease.

Dembelé was ultimately withdrawn for Bradley Barcola, a closer for club and country, who doubled the France lead with eight minutes to go when he ran on to another through ball, this time following assertive play by Adrien Rabiot, to slot past Mendy. Ibrahim Mbaye, on as a Senegal substitute, slammed a rising drive past Maignan in added time to alter momentarily the calculations before Mbappé struck again, a swerving dipping effort off the laces that Mendy should have dealt with better.

For Pape Thiaw, the Senegal head coach, this was a lesson in hitting your levels, but not a fatal one. His side will face Norway next, then Iraq, and qualification remains the aim. “When you look at the match overall, if we had been more efficient by half-time we would have led by one or two nil,” he said.

“In the second half France were more efficient than we were. We lost the ball easily on all their opportunities, and with the technical ability of the opponent we can’t allow that to happen. We have two matches to play to get six points.”

THE GUARDIAN

Lionel Messi has spent years rewriting football’s record books and he added another remarkable chapter against Algeria. He has opened Argentina’s World Cup campaign scoring a banger.

In what was his 200th senior appearance for Argentina, Messi became the first player in history to feature in six different FIFA World Cups. The 39 year old already holds Argentina’s records for most appearances (200), most goals (118) and most assists (61), and he marked the historic occasion in typical fashion.

Argentina’s captain burst into space after a brilliant line breaking pass from Rodrigo De Paul. Spotting an opening, Messi unleashed a powerful effort from outside the box. Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of French legend Zinedine Zidane, got both hands to the shot but could not keep it out as the ball squirmed into the net.

It was the perfect start to Messi’s sixth World Cup campaign and a reminder that his magic remains as potent as ever. Now he has become Argentina’s youngest and oldest goal scorer in the history of World Cup.

The goal was also significant from a statistical point of view. It was Messi’s 14th World Cup goal, extending his tally as Argentina’s all time leading scorer in the competition. It was also his fifth World Cup goal from outside the penalty area, drawing him level with Brazilian great Rivellino for the most such goals by any player since 1966.

The move itself showcased Messi’s footballing IQ. De Paul’s vision to break the lines, Messi’s intelligence to find space between defenders, and the confidence to shoot from distance all combined in one memorable moment. It was the fifth time two MLS players combined for a goal at the FIFA World Cup and the first for a team other than the USMNT.

A record breaking appearance. A landmark 200th cap. A goal from outside the box. Leo Messi, who else?

GN