Referee Cristian Garay initially brandished a yellow card for the tackle, but later reversed that decision and dismissed the Qatar player. Three surgeons, specifically brought in to treat the Sassuolo player, attended to Kone upon his arrival at the hospital. An update on his condition has now been issued following 90 minutes of surgery.
Canada Soccer said in a statement on Friday: “Last night, Ismael Kone underwent successful surgery to repair a lower limb fracture. He is expected to make a full recovery but will miss the remainder of the FIFA World Cup 2026.”
Kone’s club, Sassuolo, have also released a statement. They said: “The operation to repair the fracture in his left leg was a complete success. The player will begin his rehabilitation programme in the coming days. The whole club sends Ismael their best wishes for a speedy recovery.”
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch has also discussed events at the hospital. He said at a press conference on Friday: “By the time we got to him, he’d already had some drugs to help sedate him a little bit.
“He was being prepared to go into the operating room. But he was in really good spirits, and he was adamant that he’s going to be fine. [The surgery] took about an hour and a half, and they had three surgeons.
“I think what happened is the surgeons watched it on TV, and they saw what happened, and they knew right away. And so they brought their top three surgeons to the hospital immediately to take care of him.
“So by the time he got there, the surgeons were there, and they were ready. And then we just had to communicate with our medical team and make sure that the surgery was the best option that we thought.
“But I could see by meeting them and hearing what they had to say about the situation that he was in really good hands. So the surgery, they said, went really well.”