Good news for Canada's World Cup team as Alphonso Davies looking stronger each game in return from injury

Chris Jones · CBC Sports

· Posted: Apr 16, 2026 8:15 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Bayern Munich moved closer to a Champions League trophy with a statement quarterfinal win over Real Madrid on Wednesday. More important for Canadian soccer fans, Alphonso Davies took a step — several thousand of them, in fact — toward his triumphant return to the national team in time for this summer’s World Cup.

Davies played the entire latter half of a thrilling second leg, won 4-3 by Bayern in Munich, giving the home side a 6-4 aggregate win.

Manager Vincent Kompany brought Davies in at left back after a dizzying first half that saw Real Madrid leading the game, 3-2, and level on aggregate after Bayern’s 2-1 win in the first leg. Mostly coincidentally, the game became more tactical and controlled with Davies’ arrival, until spectacular goals by Luis Diaz and Michael Olise settled it.

Davies was solid if peripherally involved; his performance mattered less than his presence. It was the most he’d played in weeks, after a stuttering return from a torn ACL that has put him in danger of missing the tournament of a lifetime.

Canada’s captain hasn’t played for the national team since March 2025, when he suffered his knee injury during a win over the United States in the CONCACAF Nations League.

He returned to club soccer in December but suffered two more setbacks in short, agonizing order: first a torn muscle fibre in his thigh and then a strained hamstring that forced Davies to miss Canada’s March window and its unconvincing draws with Iceland and Tunisia.

Kompany has since eased Davies back into Bayern’s program to optimistic effect. On April 4, he came on as a late substitute, and earned a crucial assist, in a come-from-behind Bundesliga win over SC Freiburg.

Davies saw more action in the first leg of Bayern’s Champions League quarterfinal, when he came on in the 70th minute in Madrid. And he was brought in even earlier, in the 60th minute, during last weekend’s domestic romp over St. Pauli.

Now he’s stretched himself to 45 minutes plus four more of added time, running freely and moving well. He had sprinted all the way into the Madrid box when Olise scored his goal. Davies watched the ball go in before he raced to the edge of the pitch to hug and slap hands with Bayern’s delirious fans.

It was good to see him in a position to celebrate.

His recent hamstring injury, which happened during an earlier Champions League match against Atalanta, had left Davies in tears. The 25-year-old has suffered a litany of serious health frustrations over his career, including extended layoffs with myocarditis and numerous muscle tears.

Just when he should be reaching the heights of his powers, his professional status has been diminished by his seeming fragility, his formerly limitless body now plagued by self-governors. Transfermarkt.com, which tracks player values, has Davies currently worth €45 million, down from a peak of €80 million in 2020.

If he’s healthy, finally, for the World Cup, his pace and dynamism will provide a much-needed boost both for Canada’s depleted backline — all four presumptive starters, and some of their backups, have battled injury this year — and its struggling offence, which has scored only twice from open play in its last seven games.

Davies’ return will instead leave head coach Jesse Marsch with a different dilemma. There’s almost zero doubt that Davies will start despite his long time away. The question then becomes which of the players who have been elevated in his absence will go back to the bench.

Richie Laryea has filled in at left back and frequently been Canada’s best player. If Alistair Johnston, who normally plays on the right but is dealing with his own hamstring concerns, isn’t ready in time, then Laryea could shift across.

Marsch could also decide to leave Laryea at left back and push Davies into midfield. That move would force him to sit Ali Ahmed and Liam Millar, two of his favourite players.

It’s a problem that Marsch would love to have. He can only hope that Davies finishes his club season unscathed, including, now, a two-game Champions League semifinal against fearsome Paris Saint-Germain.

The first leg will be in Paris on April 28 before the score is settled in Munich on May 6.

With a Bayern victory there, another nervy navigation looms: The Champions League final will be held in Budapest on May 30 — the day after Canada’s last World Cup camp closes, two days before a tune-up against Uzbekistan in Davies’ hometown of Edmonton, and just 13 days before its World Cup opener against Bosnia-Hercegovina in Toronto.

For Alphonso Davies, and so for Canada, there will be much more than a trophy at stake.