'Devastated for him:' Canada's Marcelo Flores out of World Cup after injury

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'Devastated for him:' Canada's Marcelo Flores out of World Cup after injury

Jon Arnold, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Mon, Jun 1, 2026 ·

3 min read

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Canada attacker Marcelo Flores will miss the World Cup after suffering an ACL tear in the final match with his club, Tigres, before reporting for duty.

Flores entered the Concacaf Champions Cup final in the 63rd minute but had to leave the contest 15 minutes later after going down in the box with a non-contact injury and leaving the field with the assistance of teammates. Two teammates also supported him as he collected his runner-up medal after Tigres' eventual loss in the penalty shootout, and Flores said Sunday in an Instagram story that "my ACL is gone."

"Marcelo had an ACL rupture last night, so he will be out. I spoke with him last night after the match and spoke with him again about an hour ago. He'd just gotten out of his scan," Canada manager Jesse Marsch said. "The good news is the ACL was the only problem in the knee, not meniscus and all the other issues you can have that come along with that, but obviously we're devastated for him."

Marsch praised fans in Toluca and Toluca players for showing compassion for Flores in a tough moment, especially after he had received criticism in some corners of the Mexican press for making the switch away from El Tri.

"Our hearts are with him, he's in good spirits, he's already focused on moving forward and getting himself healthy for the future, and I told him if he ever wanted to come see us after he got his surgery and be around the team for parts of the World Cup when we're together, he's more than welcome," Marsch said. "He loves the team, he said he'd love to do that and one of his favorite things to do is to be with the team. We're thinking about him, and we're devastated for him."

Canada midfielder Stephen Eustaquio echoed the hope that Flores would be able to provide the team moral support during the tournament after going through surgery to repair his ACL.

"It was hard. When we knew the news of what it was, everybody texted him a message. He texted in the group as well," he said. "We have an extra motivation to go through this World Cup to make him proud, as well as all Canadians. Hopefully he can, at some stage, meet us and give us his strength."

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Who made the USMNT World Cup roster? Meet full 26-man USA squad

The U.S. men's national team World Cup roster is out, for real this time. Three days after the team's squad was fully leaked, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino officially revealed his 26-man roster for the 2026 tournament on Tuesday, May 26. The release confirmed the leak was, in fact, accurate, as the 26 names matched the 26 The Guardian first reported over the weekend. The names didn't feature too many surprises, though there were still one or two decisions that could be characterized as head-scratching. "We are confident this is the best group of 26 players to help us achieve success at the World Cup," Pochettino said. See who made the team:

Christian Pulisic, attacking midfielder/winger

(Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)

Tyler Adams, midfielder
(Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images)

Antonee Robinson, defender
(Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)

Chris Brady, goalkeeper
(Icon Sportswire, Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Joe Scally, defender
(Eric Canha, Imagn Images)

Haji Wright, striker
(Dylan Buell, Getty Images)

Miles Robinson, defender
(Megan Briggs, Getty Images)

Mark McKenzie, defender
(Johnnie Izquierdo, Getty Images)

Matt Turner, goalkeeper
(Troy Taormina, Imagn Images)

Chris Richards, defender
(Maria Lysaker, Imagn Images)

Alex Freeman, defender
(Troy Taormina, Imagn Images)

Tim Ream, defender
(Troy Taormina, Imagn Images)

Sergino Dest, defender
(Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images)

Tim Weah, midfielder
(Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images)

Alejandro Zendejas, attacking midfielder/winger
(Joseph Maiorana, Imagn Images)

Sebastian Berhalter, midfielder
(Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images)

Brenden Aaronson, attacking midfielder/winger
(Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images)

Auston Trusty, defender
(Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images)

Malik Tillman, attacking midfielder/winger
(Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)

Folarin Balogun, striker
(Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)

Ricardo Pepi, striker
(Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images)

Matt Freese, goalkeeper
(Dale Zanine, Imagn Images)

Max Arfsten, defender
(Dale Zanine, Imagn Images)

Gio Reyna, Attacking midfielder/winger
(Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)

Cristian Roldan, midfielder
(Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)

Who is Marcelo Flores, and why does he represent Canada?

Flores is an Arsenal academy alumnus who was born in Canada, but he had suited up for the Mexico national team , playing in friendly matches and the Concacaf Nations League. He also was on Mexico's 2024 Copa América side, but critically didn't play any minutes - which would have cap-tied him to El Tri. Instead, since he had played just three matches before the age of 21, he was still eligible to switch to Canada or England .

Flores had his one-time switch to play for Canada approved by FIFA on Feb. 11, and he was part of Marsch's final World Cup squad announced on Friday, May 29.

Flores is from a soccer family, with both of his sisters also playing in Liga MX and his father having played professionally and transitioning into coaching after his playing career ended, working in Canada and the Caribbean.

Marsch has until Canada's opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12 to replace Flores on the roster. He can choose to go with a like-for-like player with Austin FC winger Jayden Nelson still in Canada's training camp after missing the final squad or bring in another player like center back/midfielder Ralph Priso or striker/winger Daniel Jebbison .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Canada's Marcelo Flores out of World Cup after injury in last match

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