One of the co-hosts of this World Cup, Canada had a history-making run in what was their third appearance at the major tournament.
Playing on their home soil, Canada recorded their first ever World Cup win, first ever Knock out stage qualification and first ever knock out victory in the mega event.
But despite that, their team captain Alphonso Davies is at the forefront of the Canadian supporters’ wrath.
Canada looked well on course for another memorable match against last World Cup’s semifinalist Morocco, as they dominated the first half of their round of 16 match against the African nation, having 13 touches in Morocco’s box compared to just one from the opposition.
But those touches did not reap any rewards as they eventually succumbed to a 3-0 defeat to Morocco with Davies only warming the bench throughout the match.
Well, Davies did have some sprints during the half-time of the match, but he did not warm-up with the substitutes and ultimately ended the campaign with just one appearance and 15 minutes under his belt against South Africa.
This has caused uproar in Canada as they became the first host nation to be knocked out of this tournament and Davies had to bear the full brunt of Canadian fans’ frustration.
To be fair to Davies, he has had a torrid time with injuries ever since suffering a major cruciate ligament tear in March 2025.
Following his gruelling rehabilitation and return to the pitch, the 25-year-old suffered from multiple muscle injuries and strains, restricting him to only 23 appearances for his club side Bayern Munich in the recently concluded season.
While some fans seemed puzzled about Davies not coming on to the pitch in the biggest football match in their country’s history, some simply called for him to be stripped of Canadian national team captaincy.
Questions were asked about Davies’ fitness and his inclusion in the team as some felt that he took an opportunity away from one of the deserving, fully fit players by sneaking into the team despite not being fight enough.
Some even hinted that Davies did not play to preserve himself for Bayern, as others simply gave examples of Canada’s most popular sports, hockey’s players putting all on the line for the team, compared to Davis’s no show. Some even went as far as asking Davies not to show up in Canada ever again.
Davies, however later went on to clarify that he did not wish to become the team’s burden and therefore himself decided not to come on to the pitch against Morocco.
Canada coach Jesse Marsch also went on to clarify that his team captain felt an issue with his hamstring and they did not want to risk his future, despite earlier claiming Davies was available for the match.
As for now, Davies’ first priority would be making himself fully fit before the club season kicks off and it is quite possible that we might see him in new colors come this summer with Bayern reportedly ready to offload Davies.
