Canada are into the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup despite not having star man Alphonso Davies available for their opening three games. However, the Bayern Munich left back finally made his return to the team as a late substitute in the last 32 victory over South Africa.

Davies has been dealing with a hamstring injury since May, which caused him to miss Canada’s opening World Cup draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was an unused substitute in the 6-0 win over Qatar and again the 2-1 defeat to against Switzerland last Wednesday.

“The good news is he’s looking great,” Marsch said before the final group game. “He’s in training, he looks great, he looks fit, he looks ready to go, excited. So, let’s see how things go, but I expect him to play.”

In the end, he did not play a single minute.

Davies did, however, get on for the last 15 minutes of Sunday’s round of 32 game against South Africa, helping Les Rouges to a late 1-0 victory.

Canada’s left-sided options in Davies’ absence

In Davies’ absence, Richie Laryea has started at left back in both of Canada’s games so far, with Liam Millar and then Ali Ahmed ahead of him.

Due to various fitness issues, Davies had not played for Canada since March 2025 before his substitute appearance against South Africa.

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