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Canada’s Marcelo Flores will miss this summer’s World Cup after suffering a knee injury.
National team head coach Jesse Marsch says Flores ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while playing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup with his club team Tigres UNAL on Saturday.
The 22-year-old midfielder from Georgetown, Ont., sustained the ACL injury in a non-contact play in the 77th minute and left the field in tears as Tigres fell to Toluca in a shootout. The team said Flores will have surgery.
“These are difficult times, I just wanted to thank everyone for their messages,” Flores posted on Instagram. “I haven’t been using my phone or checking my messages, but I promise to reply to everyone and I really appreciate your concern. I’ll come back stronger.”
Flores was not at Canada’s training camp in Charlotte, N.C., last week, but was one of the 10 midfielders named to the country’s 26-player World Cup roster on Friday.
Marsch says he spoke with Flores both on Saturday night and Sunday morning, and told him he is welcome to come be around the team at the tournament following surgery.
The head coach says he has not yet made a decision on who will take the vacant roster spot, but will make a choice at least 24 hours before the country kicks off the tournament against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12.
WATCH | Canada names 26-player roster ahead of men’s World Cup:
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We now know who will lace up for Team Canada at the FIFA World Cup. 32 players were invited to training camp in North Carolina earlier this week, but only 26 of them made the cut ahead of the opening match on Friday, June 12. CBC’s Dale Manucdoc has details on the roster from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Flores’s switch of national eligibility from Mexico to Canada was confirmed in February. Born to a Mexican father, he played three matches with Mexico’s senior team and needed FIFA approval to play for the Canadians.
An attacking midfielder who was part of Arsenal’s academy system, Flores played one season for Real Oviedo in Spain’s second division, before signing with Tigres of Mexico’s top flight in 2023.
Canada is co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico and the United States. After the June 12 match, the Canadians move to Vancouver for Group B games against Qatar and Switzerland.
