Despite a favorable result for Canada in Thursday's Group B match against Qatar, the team lost star Ismaël Koné to a brutal, unnecessary injury.
Koné was carted off the pitch in the second half of Thursday's match after sustaining a leg injury in a collision with a Qatar player. The 24-year-old is one of Canada's rising young stars and an injury of this magnitude certainly will have him missing the rest of the 2026 World Cup in a really unfortunate way.
After the game resumed nearly 10 minutes later, Nathan Saliba scored to make it 4-0 Canada in the 64th minute. In Saliba's celebration, the Canadian grabbed Koné's jersey and held it up in tribute to his injured teammate in a touching moment for the team and for the fans at BC Place Vancouver.
Assim Madibo, the Qatar player who injured Koné on a tackle, was assessed a red card for the foul. The red card was Qatar's second of the match.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Canada celebrates goal with Ismaël Koné's jersey after star's injury
