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With the World Cup starting in about two weeks, we’ve rounded up the latest news about the Canadian team yesterday’s newspaper. Today, let’s take a look at a few of the other 47 countries in the tournament, as well as something that is irking fans everywhere.
Canada is not the only team with injury problems.
The biggest story on Team Canada right now is the status of star captain Alphonso Davies, who has not played for Canada since tearing the ACL in his right knee in March 2025 and is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury he suffered earlier this month against his club, Bayern Munich. Davies is absent from Canada’s training camp in Charlotte, NC, this week, and coach Jesse Marsch said he doesn’t expect his best player to be ready for Canada’s World Cup opener June 12 in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Marsch believes Davies will return at some point during the World Cup, but at the moment no one knows for sure.
This is, of course, a bad break in Canada. But it’s not the only country holding its breath over the injured star.
Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title, is dealing with an injury of his own as he prepares for what will be his sixth appearance at soccer’s biggest stage. “The initial reports are not bad at all,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said after Messi pulled out of the second half of Sunday night’s game against Inter Miami due to what Major League Soccer called “muscle fatigue” in his left hamstring. “Now, we have to wait to see how he turns out.”
Messi still plans to report to Argentina’s training camp, but it is unclear how much he will be able to participate, while Scaloni did not expect to play in the team’s pre-World Cup friendly games on June 6 and June 9 in the United States. Argentina’s first World Cup match is on June 16 against Algeria.
In Argentina Injury problems also include goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who broke his right ring finger during the warm-up of last week’s Europa League final against Aston Villa. But that did not stop him from playing when his team won against Freiburg, and he is expected to play well in the World Cup.
In Brazil, Neymar sat out his last three team games with an injured right calf. Although the 34-year-old star is ahead put the injury down, he is expected to miss Brazil’s two warm-up games before its first World Cup match on June 13 against Morocco. Neymar, top scorer for Brazil’s men’s national team, has not played for the five-time World Cup champions since tearing his ACL in 2023.
In Spain, 18-year-old Barcelona star Lamine Yamal is recovering from an injury that has sidelined him since late April, although national team coach Luis de la Fuente expects him to be fit for their June 15 opener against Cape Verde. Yamal helped La Roja to win the 2024 European Championship at just 16 years old. His goal in the semi-final against France made him the youngest goalscorer in the tournament’s history.
Iran will attend its games in the United States.
There have been doubts about Iran’s participation in the World Cup since late February, when the US joined Israel in a military attack on the country. President Donald Trump said in March that Iran was still welcome to play in the tournament, but suggested it would be better if the team stayed outside the US “for their health and safety.”
With Iran scheduled to play New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, Belgium in LA on June 21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26, the head of Iran’s football federation held talks with FIFA about moving those games to host Mexico. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was open to the idea, but FIFA stuck to its original plan.
On Monday, FIFA confirmed that the base of the Iranian team would be moved from Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana, and Sheinbaum said on Monday that they would sleep in Mexico again. to the US on game days after the US refused to allow them to stay in the country.
Ticket prices are crazy.
This comes as no surprise to anyone looking to attend a sporting event or concert recently, but FIFA seems particularly determined to squeeze every dollar it can into the first World Cup in North America since 1994. While it’s hard to pin down exact figures in today’s “volatile” ticket market, a quick look at StubHub shows that Toronto’s cheap, your seat will set you back 0 $0 in Canada. Cdn, and better seats are listed at over $6,000. Reports of inflated costs for parking, public transport and outdoor fan festivals have added to fan frustration at a time when “affordability” is a hot topic in politics.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino tried to justify the cost as a function of the event’s highest ever demand in the North American entertainment market. His organization also recently released a small number of super-affordable tickets, but that move has also backfired to some extent with fans. he lamented the lack of transparency in the sales process.
For more on the World Cup, watch the latest episode of Soccer North you have CBC Sports YouTube channel.
