Canada midfielder Ismaël Koné undergoes surgery to repair broken leg

Jesse Marsch had heard the sickening crack before.

The moment he saw Ismaël Koné crumple to the turf on Thursday night, Canada's head coach knew exactly what injury his midfielder had sustained.

"It happened right in front of the bench. We could all hear it. I knew right away," Marsch said. "It was right in front of us, and everyone could hear the bone snap."

As he dashed upfield early in the second half of Canada's FIFA World Cup match with Qatar, Koné was tackled by Assim Madibo, an act that broke the 24-year-old Montrealer's left leg.

The sound, Marsch said, was similar to the noise he heard when Canadian midfielder Tajon Buchanan suffered the same injury in training at the 2024 Copa America.

"Your heart goes out to (Koné), and everybody's a little shaken by the whole experience, because of the nature of the injury, and also because Ismaël is a big part of the heart of our team," the coach said. "It will be a big loss for us. He's been an amazing player these last two games."

Gruesome injury to Ismaël Koné in victory over Qatar dampens Canadian men's joy of historic 1st World Cup win

There was pushing and shoving between Canadian and Qatari players as trainers ran out to the field to assess the ailment. Medics eventually moved Kone to a stretcher and he was wheeled off the field as fans in the red-clad crowd of 52,479 at B.C. Place chanted his name.

Madibo was shown the red card for the play and the hometown crowd jeered him with chants of "Shame!" as he walked off the field, leaving Qatar down to nine men. Marsch said Madibo went into Canada's locker room to apologize to Koné.

Koné headed to hospital where, surrounded by his family, he awaited surgery late Thursday night.

Moïse Bombito shares a photo with Ismaël Koné