{"id":749948,"date":"2026-06-20T17:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/749948\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T17:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:59:15","slug":"canadian-brotherhood-rallies-around-injured-ismael-kone-after-successful-leg-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/749948\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian \u2018brotherhood\u2019 rallies around injured Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9 after successful leg surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada’s Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9 waves to the crowd as he is stretchered off the field Thursday after breaking his leg during the 6-0 World Cup win over Qatar in Vancouver.Agustin Marcarian\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The surgeons \u2013 like millions of Canadians on Thursday \u2013 watched Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9\u2019s left fibula and tibia snap on television. For them, it was a call to duty.<\/p>\n

They rushed to Vancouver General Hospital. \u201cThey knew right away,\u201d said Canada head coach Jesse Marsch on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

By the time Kon\u00e9 arrived at VGH \u2013 the hospital is up the hill from BC Place, less than 10 minutes south of the stadium \u2013 the surgeons were there and they were ready. The medical team quickly discussed the best options of how to proceed. Kon\u00e9, Canada\u2019s linchpin midfielder at this World Cup, went under the knife. The work lasted 90 minutes. <\/p>\n

Marsch met the surgeons at the hospital beforehand, not long after Canada\u2019s first-ever World Cup win, a 6-0 rout of Qatar, and listened to them assess the situation. It reassured him to know Kon\u00e9 was in the right hands. The surgery, the doctors said afterward, went really well.<\/p>\n

Canada steamrolls nine-man Qatar 6-0 for historic World Cup win<\/a><\/p>\n

Kon\u00e9 had taken to Instagram Friday morning to post an earlier black-and-white image of himself sitting down on a pitch. It evoked the scene at BC Place, early in Thursday\u2019s second half, after a rough tackle from Qatari midfielder Assim Madibo. Referees sent off Madibo with a red card and a regretful Madibo soon after apologized to Kon\u00e9.<\/p>\n

It happened near the sideline, right by the Canada bench. Everyone had heard bones break. Some knew exactly what that shock of pain feels like.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllah has never failed me,\u201d Kon\u00e9 wrote on Instagram. \u201cThroughout my life, not even once.\u201d Kon\u00e9 spoke of the broken leg as a new battle, one that would test his character. \u201cI\u2019m ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also sent a rallying cry to his teammates, who, next Wednesday, play at home in Vancouver against a favoured Switzerland to decide the winner of Group B, the group victor going on to play a round of 32 game in Vancouver on July 2.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s gone from never winning a single match in three World Cup appearances over a stretch of 40 years to the brink of topping a group.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my Canadian brothers,\u201d Kon\u00e9 wrote, \u201cI [turn] myself into assistant coach to support you from the sideline.\u201d He punctuated that with the laughing-crying face emoji. <\/p>\n

Kon\u00e9 turned 24 on Tuesday. His teammates celebrated him that morning at practice. He sent them a video message on Friday. On Instagram, he wrote: \u201cI wanted you to know that I love you guys from the bottom of my heart and our brotherhood is everything to me. What you guys did yesterday will stay with me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, goalkeeper Maxime Cr\u00e9peau planned to see Kon\u00e9 at Vancouver General after a morning of practice at the University of British Columbia.<\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: Give Canada a mulligan for going overboard with World Cup win celebration<\/a><\/p>\n

Cr\u00e9peau knows what it\u2019s like. He broke his leg in 2022 and missed that year\u2019s World Cup. On Thursday, Cr\u00e9peau consoled tearful defender Luc de Fougerolles, 20 years old, on the pitch after Kon\u00e9 went down. Cr\u00e9peau at 32 is one of the wise old men on this young team. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult,\u201d said Cr\u00e9peau of yet another traumatic blow to the Canadian squad. He nodded to 22-year-old Marcelo Flores, who blew his ACL shortly before the World Cup started. \u201cWe\u2019ve been through certain types of injuries like this, and good wins, and tough losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has forged a togetherness. The team\u2019s resilience after Kon\u00e9\u2019s broken leg, Cr\u00e9peau said, is another example of \u201chow tight the group is and connected we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, as medics carted Kon\u00e9 off the pitch, Marsch embraced him. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Jesse Marsch comforts Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9 as the injured player departs the pitch on Thursday.Kaleb Tatum\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Kon\u00e9, starting to recover from the initial shock, waved to the sellout crowd of more than 52,000 at BC Place, almost everyone in Canadian red.<\/p>\n

While pushing forward in the World Cup means that Canada\u2019s mind must turn toward the work to at least draw against a stronger Swiss team next Wednesday, the team has a bit of time to breathe. A family barbecue was planned on Friday, to decompress, savour the moment and assuage nerves after the rattling injury. Saturday is a day off and then the work is immediately intense again. <\/p>\n

On Friday, Marsch said he has seen several tibia breaks. The team coming together demonstrated the sort of squad Canada is to his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a soothing moment, when you feel the pain of the situation, to know that everybody here cares, and takes care of each other so well,\u201d the veteran 52-year-old coach and former pro player said. \u201cI\u2019ve never been around a team like this. It\u2019s really unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Kon\u00e9 did as much to reassure the team as they did to comfort him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like, as much as we\u2019re trying to soothe and take care of him, it\u2019s actually happening the other way around,\u201d Marsch said. \u201cIt says everything about Isma\u00ebl.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Canada’s Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9 waves to the crowd as he is stretchered off the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[264632,49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-749948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-2026worldcupglobe","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}