Canada’s Ismaël Koné Leaves World Cup Match on Stretcher

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