TORONTO - Canada celebrated its first-ever World Cup victory Thursday night, but Ismaël Koné spent the aftermath in a Vancouver operating room.
The 24-year-old Montrealer, who was a key player for Canada, underwent surgery after breaking his left leg in the 6-0 win over Qatar. Koné fractured both the tibia and fibula following a tackle by Qatar’s Assim Madibo and was carried off the field on a stretcher.
Canada coach Jesse Marsch said the injury happened in front of the bench, and that you could hear the “bone snap.”
By Friday, Marsch provided an optimistic update under the circumstances.
“He had a tib-fib fracture, but they did the surgery last night,” said Marsch. “The doctor said it went perfectly. And ... Ismael’s already been up this morning.”
“Just up in his bed, and then he sent a video message to the guys, so, he was in good spirits.”
Dr. Jihad Abouali, an orthopaedic sports surgeon and former team surgeon for Toronto FC, watched the match live on TV and knew immediately it was serious for Koné.
“I knew something bad happened right away, just from his reaction and the opposing player’s reaction,” Abouali said.
“There was an audible snapping sound, so definitely sounded like a bone being fractured.”
The tibia is the leg’s main weight-bearing bone, while the fibula provides stability.
Asked how painful it would be, Abouali noted Koné was likely in shock.
“So he seemed to be taking it well,” he said. “He’s obviously a tough player.”
Marsch revealed that three top surgeons from Vancouver General Hospital operated on Koné’s leg — and that all three had been watching the game on TV before rushing to the hospital, TSN’s James Duthie reported.
“It does require an operation, likely to put a rod down the middle of his bone, down the tibia,” Abouali said. “Once that rod is in, it’s stabilized by a couple of screws, which is a very strong implant, so you can walk on it right away.”
Abouali estimated Koné could be back training on the pitch in roughly five or six months, and said it make take a few months after that to get into full game shape, given how explosive a player he is.
Crucially, Abouali does not believe the injury is career threatening.
“I would not think so. Severe fractures are common injuries. Patients and athletes like do very well after this operation, and we’ve come a long way in doing these techniques, minimally invasive.” he said. “We’re gonna miss him on the field, but I do believe he’ll make a strong recovery.”
Dr. Aaron Nauth is an orthopaedic trauma and sports medicine surgeon at St. Michael’s hospital in Toronto. He also believes Koné will make a full recovery.
“It’s obviously a pretty devastating injury for a high-level athlete that spends a lot of time running and jumping and kicking,” said Nauth. “But it’s certainly something that you can recover from after an appropriate period of time.”
As for whether he will have any lingering effects after the recovery, Nauth doesn’t think so.
“I think he should be essentially as good as new after an injury like that.”
Koné is the third member of this Canadian program to break a leg in recent years — and Marsch pointedly compared the surgery to those of the other players.
Winger Tajon Buchanan broke his tibia in training during the 2024 Copa América, had surgery in early July, and did not rejoin the national team until that November. Defender Moise Bombito also fractured his leg in club play last October and went through a lengthy rehabilitation.
Bombito, who knows the road ahead better than most, visited Koné in hospital and posted a photo of the two of them together on Instagram. One teammate who has come out the other side standing beside one just starting the journey.
Koné, for his part, struck a grateful tone in his own Instagram post, thanking the fans and players who had reached out.
“Your love and support has been felt, honestly thank you so much,” he wrote. “You can’t even imagine, how grateful I am to everyone who reached out and that has me in their prayers. I thank god for that because not everyone is this fortunate.”
