Canada midfielder Ismael Kone expressed gratitude to God, his teammates, and supporters after suffering a broken leg during his team's dominant 6-0 victory over Qatar in a FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B match held in Vancouver.
The 24-year-old sustained the injury following a heavy second-half challenge from Qatar's Assim Madibo and later underwent surgery to repair the fracture. In an Instagram post on Friday, as quoted by Reuters, Kone wrote, "Your love and support has been felt, honestly thank you so much. You can't even imagine how grateful I am to everyone who reached out and has me in their prayers. I thank God for that because not everyone is this fortunate."
Several of Kone's teammates were visibly shocked as he received medical attention on the field before his leg was placed in an inflatable support system for emergency stabilization. Kone further wrote, "I wanted you to know that I love you guys from the bottom of my heart and our brotherhood is everything to me. What you guys did yesterday will stay with me forever. I'll be back very soon and we'll keep making more memories together."
Kone was stretchered off in the second half of the match at BC Place in Vancouver after a serious-looking injury. The tackle from behind by Madibo immediately raised concern, with players quickly calling for medical attention and surrounding Kone as he received treatment, according to ESPN. After a VAR review, Madibo was shown a straight red card for dangerous play and sent off. Qatar were further reduced to nine men after Homam Al Amin had already been dismissed earlier in the first half.
Kone received applause from the BC Place crowd as he was carefully carried off the field for further evaluation and treatment. Despite the incident, Canada remained firmly in control of the match. Midfielder Nathan Saliba, who replaced Kone in the 57th minute, later paid tribute by holding up Kone's shirt after scoring Canada's fourth goal.
The match was overshadowed by the injury but saw Canada deliver a dominant performance, thrashing Qatar 6-0 to register their first-ever World Cup win in the competition. Jonathan David starred with a historic hat-trick, the first by a Canadian in World Cup history, while Cyle Larin opened the scoring early in the first half. Canada also benefited from a Qatar own goal as the visitors struggled to cope with the pace and intensity of the match. The match ended with Qatar further reduced due to disciplinary setbacks, marking a one-sided contest in Canada's favour despite the serious injury to Kone.
