Canada head coach Jesse Marsch said Thursday that captain Alphonso Davies will miss the team's World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12 due to a hamstring injury.
"No, he won't play in the first game. But he'll play in the tournament," Marsch told CBC's Adrienne Arsenault in an interview released Thursday. "We're going to have to manage the group phase and get out. I think for sure he can be ready once we get out of the group. And I think if we're smart, and good, and careful, that he can be ready for the third match in the group as well.
"So we'll see. We're going to take it step by step. But Alphonso will be ready, and certainly the team is motivated to give him a chance."
Davies tweaked his left hamstring during Bayern Munich's Champions League semifinal second leg against Paris Saint-Germain on May 6. The German club said it expected him to miss several weeks. He did not play in the DFB-Pokal final victory against Stuttgart and did not feature in any of the national team's three warm-up friendlies against Iceland, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan over the last week.
The 25-year-old last played for his country during the CONCACAF Nations League third-place playoff against the rival United States in March 2025. He said Wednesday that he was still hopeful of recovering in time to play in what will be the first World Cup match ever held in Canada.
"The first game is coming up pretty quickly," Davis said, per The Canadian Press. "We understand how important the first game is, but we understand recovery is always an important thing. If I'm recovering as good as possible, let's see. If not, then there's no need to rush. Just keep continuing the recovery."
Davies has earned 58 international caps for Canada, netting 15 goals and 18 assists. He scored the country's first-ever goal at the World Cup in 2022 with a second-minute header in a 4-1 loss to Croatia.
