GOAL’s picks: Alistair Johnston, Niko Sigur, Richie Laryea, Alphonso Davies, Mo\u00efse Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Alfie Jones, Luc de Fougerolles, Joel Waterman
In the mix: Kamal Miller, Zorhan Bassong, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Ralph Priso, Jamie Knight-Lebel, Nikola Markovic<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re reading this and have a Canadian passport, keep your phone nearby. Canada\u2019s World Cup backline may need you. The strength of the Canadian team, when healthy, quickly becomes a concern once injuries enter the picture, and much of the projected back four is racing to be fit for the World Cup opener.<\/p>\n
Starting with the fullbacks, Alphonso Davies remains the biggest concern. The 25-year-old impressed after returning from injury in March but suffered a hamstring strain in the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain, putting him out for five to six weeks and making him doubtful for the World Cup group stage.<\/p>\n
While he will likely make the 26-man squad and could be available off the bench in the opener or shortly after, he will not be at his best, significantly lowering Canada\u2019s ceiling.<\/p>\n
Outside of Davies, things do not get much better. Toronto FC\u2019s Richie Laryea, who has filled in at left back, has not played since April 22 but is expected to be ready for the tournament. That leaves Celtic FC\u2019s Alistair Johnston, who has not played for Canada since June 2025 because of various injuries, and Hajduk Split\u2019s Niko Sigur as the only fully healthy fullbacks with starting potential.<\/p>\n
There is a similar concern at center back. Star Ligue 1 defender Mo\u00efse Bombito continues to work his way back from a broken leg and has not played since Oct. 5. Like Davies, he has not featured for Canada since March 2025, while Derek Cornelius was moved to Rangers FC\u2019s reserve team and has not played a club match since Nov. 9 despite returning from injury.<\/p>\n
Beyond that duo, which started throughout Canada\u2019s impressive 2024 Copa Am\u00e9rica run, Alfie Jones remains on the road to recovery after surgery with Middlesbrough, and 20-year-old Luc de Fougerolles is still ramping up his playing time with FCV Dender. That leaves Chicago Fire\u2019s Joel Waterman as the lone healthy defender on the projected roster who is also playing regularly.<\/p>\n
If any of those names drop off the list entirely, expect Portland center back Kamal Miller to be the first call, followed by Sporting Kansas City\u2019s Zorhan Bassong, Crewe Alexandra\u2019s Jamie Knight-Lebel or New York Red Bulls\u2019 Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GOAL’s picks: Alistair Johnston, Niko Sigur, Richie Laryea, Alphonso Davies, Mo\u00efse Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Alfie Jones, Luc de…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21537,21541,17,25121,17655,8134,25123,25122,25124,3543],"class_list":["post-57635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-a-davies","tag-a-johnston","tag-canada","tag-d-st-clair","tag-j-david","tag-j-marsch","tag-m-bombito","tag-n-sigur","tag-p-david","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}