Alphonso Davies Suffers ACL Injury During International Duty

The international window is always a scary proposition for club teams.

Seeing their prized possessions leave the friendly confines of the club to play football sometimes continents away is far from a reassuring feeling. When these players get injured in rather meaningless matches, the feelings of anger and frustration compound even further.

Bayern Munich is in this headspace after it was determined star LB Alphonso Davies tore his ACL last weekend during CONCACAF Nations League play with Canada.

Davies allegedly suffered an injury in the semifinals versus Mexico. According to Davies’ agent Nedal Huoseh, Davies was not supposed to start a few days later versus the United States. However, Davies ended up starting the match thus leading to the injury. Huoseh alleges that Davies was pressured into starting by the coach (who would be Jesse Marsch).

Huoseh issued the following statement towards the Canadian soccer federation:

Canada soccer needs to do a better job managing these players, in my opinion. Alphonso is down and obviously really disappointed about the injury.

In response, Canada tried to control the narrative via OneSoccer’s Kristian Jack:

We want to express our full support for our mean’s national team captain, Alphonso Davies, as he recovers from this unfortunate injury. Phonzie’s strength and resilience matches his world-class talent, and we all look forward to fully supporting him during his recovery. Canada soccer’s coaches and experienced medical staff are true profesisonals and have always prioritized player safety and wellbeing. Anything suggesting otherwise is untrue.

This sort of injury is not ideal for club or country — particularly for a player reliant upon pace, power, and constant running. Davies should be fully recovered prior to the 2026 World Cup. Having said that, knee ligament injuries are notoriously tricky. There’s no guarantee Davies will be back 100 percent within a year’s time.

Ultimately, this could be a massive blow towards Canada’s chances at getting out of the group stage.