2026 World Cup: Injuries mounting for Canada ahead of next international window

With just over 100 days until the 2026 Wold Cup, injuries are starting to take their toll on Canada’s roster.

Here’s what you need to know.

Make sure to check out Sports Interaction’s complete list of World Cup match odds and World Cup futures.

Alphonso Davies

Canada is expected to be without several players for the next international window at the end of March due to injury.

The most glaring concern is captain Alphonso Davies, who suffered a small hamstring tear playing for Bayern Munich last week. There is hope Davies will only be sidelined a few weeks, but it remains greatly concerning for Canada Soccer as the injury comes just eight games after he returned from a 10-month ACL recovery.

ACL recovery is something Canada Soccer is familiar with. Midfielder Liam Millar came back from an ACL injury last September and played five games before a hamstring injury kept him on the sideline for a month. The good news is Millar has made 14 straight appearances for Hull City in the English Championship since his second injury return in November.

Promise David

Forward Promise David is dealing with the most serious injury for Canada right now. The 24-year-old was stretchered off the field in Union Saint-Gilloise’s win over Royal Antwerp on Saturday after colliding with an Antwerp player.

David will underdog surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his hip on Friday. The rehabilitation is expected to take from three to five months, which puts a return in time for the World Cup in jeopardy.

That could be a massive blow to Canada’s attack as David is currently tied for second in Belgian League scoring with nine goals. He has 15 total goals in 37 matches across all competitions this season.

Injuries mounting

There’s also a lot of uncertainty surrounding Canada’s defence as there is no firm timeline for a return for starting centre backs Moise Bombito (broken leg), Derek Cornelius (hamstring) and starting right back Alistair Johnston (hamstring).

There’s hope Bombito could be back sometime in mid-March.

Cornelius recently returned to training for the Scottish Premiership’s Rangers, but it remains to be seen how much playing time he’ll get with the Rangers, Hearts and Celtic locked in one of the tightest battles for the Scottish title in decades.

It’s the same case for Celtic’s Johnston, with his hamstring injury causing him the longest layoff of his career. Johnston suffered the injury after two Scottish league games in August and only managed to play 26 minutes of a Europa League game when he attempted to return in mid-October.

2026 World Cup

Canada opens the World Cup June 12 at BMO Field in Toronto. That gives Canada roughly 3.5 months to get healthy players back in the lineup.

However, the problem for head coach Jesse Marsch will be giving players adequate time to play together with only four international friendlies remaining before the World Cup.

Canada is currently No. 29 in the FIFA World Rankings. They will be in Group B with No. 18 Switzerland, No. 56 Qatar and a final opponent they will find out on March 31. The fourth Group B team will be either Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, or Northern Ireland.

Canada will open the World Cup against the TBD opponent on June 12 in Toronto. Then they head to BC Place in Vancouver to face Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.

Canada is +450 to win Group B.