World Cup co-hosts Canada have suffered a serious blow with star midfielder Ismael Kone stretchered off after suffering a broken leg against Qatar.
The 24-year-old received the ball and turned to pass back to his defenders, with Qatar's Assim Madibo tripped up by the change of direction as he stuck a leg out to challenge Kone. But his trailing leg caught Kone at the wrong angle and the referee blew the whistle for a foul, only for attention to quickly turn to the Canadian as he held his left leg and ankle.
A nearby Qatari player waved for medical attention before putting his hands on his head. Cameras cut to Kone before realising the extent of the damage — and even he could not believe what had happened, in clear shock before covering his mouth.
"This looks serious," Casey Stoney said in commentary. "This doesn't look good."
Tensions simmered over between players as medical staff worked to clear space to help Kone. "It was an instant reaction from both sets of players," Paul Scott said. Stoney added: "It was, the nearest player looked very concerned — players with their hands on their heads, they can see that something is seriously wrong."
Madibo protested his innocence and shook his head, clearly in shock himself over having caused the injury. "Madibo looks quite distressed," Stoney said. "You go into tackles with an intent to win the ball, not to harm anybody."
Canada's Tajon Buchanan checked in on Madibo, whose yellow card was upgraded to a red — Qatar's second of the day — by VAR. Canada already led 3-0 at the time of the incident. Kone, boosted by a green whistle for pain relief, sat up in his stretcher to wave to the crowd as he left the stadium.
