Canada has just won their first World Cup match, and also produced one of the thrashings of the competition, beating Qatar 6-0 with a hat-trick by Juventus player Jonathan David, Southampton's Cyle Larin, Anderlecht's Nathan Saliba, and an own goal by Mohammed Manai. The match, one of the first from round 2 of the group stage, featured two red cards, which tipped the scales for the Canadian national team, who despite all, paid a big price.
Midfielder Ismaël Koné, from Italian club Sassuolo, broke his leg early in the second half, with Canada already leading 3-0. A late and clumsy challenge by Assim Madibo caused him to fall to the ground in tears. "Everyone could hear the bone snap", said Canada coach Jesse Marsch.
As players from both teams run to assist Koné, seeing how his badly was his leg, a scuffle erupted between the players. Madibo, initially unaware of what happened, put his hand over his head realising the consequences of his challenge, in visible distraught, and was shown a red card, leaving Qatar with nine.
Eventually, Koné was taken in a stretchered and despite the pain, still waved fans in his way out and lifted his thumb up. Later, when Saliba scored the fourth, held up Koné's shirt.
"Everybody's a little shaken by the whole experience because of the nature of the injury, and also because Ismael is a big part of the heart of our team. It will be a big loss for us", said Marsch. Koné is now ruled out for the rest of the tournament and will be side-lined for months, after fracturing his tibia and fibula.
