Canadian midfielder Ismael Kone says outburst in Bucharest won’t happen again

Canadian midfielder Ismael Kone, who had words with coach Jesse Marsch after being substituted in Friday’s 3-0 win over Romania, says his outburst was prompted by “a bit of disappointment, a bit of frustration.”

But he acknowledged such a display of pique should not have happened.

“I felt like as a man, as a player playing on a team, this is something I shouldn’t do right in that moment, whatever my reason may be,” he told a news conference in Swansea, Wales. “I spoke with my teammates, I spoke with the coaching staff also. They know how much I appreciate them, and this is something that was just out of frustration.

“I mentioned to them that it will never happen again … I care about this jersey and this team more than anything.”

Marsch chose to have the 23-year-old Kone accompany him at Monday’s availability ahead of Tuesday’s friendly with Wales, clearly looking to bury the issue. Normally, he is flanked by the captain, acting captain or a player who has some kind of special link to the game itself.

But Kone’s outburst took some of the shine off Canada’s stellar performance in Bucharest

Marsch had previously said Kone would start Tuesday, saying he had spoken to him about the incident and that the two were “closer than we’ve ever been.”

Dayne St. Clair gets the start in goal while forward Jonathan David captains the team with Stephen Eustaquio back in Portugal for treatment for a lower-body injury. Marsch said Eustaquio could play for FC Porto this weekend.

With goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau going through concussion protocols after taking a ball to the face in the Romania game, Tom McGill has been called into camp. The 25-year-old returned to Brighton & Hove Albion in January after a loan spell with MK Dons in England’s third-tier League 2.

Marsch also has Atlanta United ‘keeper Jayden Hibbert in camp.

Wales, ranked 31st in the world, is coming off a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan in World Cup qualifying play Thursday. The Welsh currently stand third in their qualifying group at 3-1-1 behind No. 8 Belgium (3-0-1) and No. 62 North Macedonia (3-0-2).

Marsch has downplayed the Kone incident, saying he opted to replace him to have a more defensive presence on the pitch with a 2-0 lead.

“Ismael didn’t want to come off the pitch. He was asking if I took him off because he lost one pass, and I said ‘No’ … He was obviously emotional about it, but I don’t mind that,” Marsch said after the game. “You’d rather have players that don’t want to come off than are happy to come off.”

Marsch calls Kone “a creative thinker … an outside-the-box thinker.”

It’s not the first run-in with a coach for Kone.

In August 2024, an Olympique Marseille video documenting the French team’s season showed a training altercation between Kone and Italian manager Roberto De Zerbi after Kone lost the ball during a drill.

De Zerbi is seen shouting, “Reduce the touches, reduce the touches” after Kone is dispossessed before yelling, “Go take a shower” and “Call your agent to come here.”

“He’s one of the players with the most potential at Olympique Marseille, but who didn’t always behave well, someone who had highs and lows that were too big for a player who is ready for Olympique Marseille,” De Zerbi says in a voice-over in the video.

In February, Marseille loaned Kone to Rennes for the remainder of the season. The Canadian had the last laugh, scoring a long-range rocket against Marseille in the final game of the campaign, albeit in a 4-2 loss.

In February, he was loaned to Italy’s Sassuolo. He was sent off for a second yellow card in its season-opening 2-0 loss to Italian champions Napoli.

Kone made his senior debut for Canada at 19, coming off the bench in a World Cup qualifier in Costa Rica in March 2022. Today, he has 32 caps, including 22 starts, with three goals.

Born in the Ivory Coast, Kone was seven when he came to Canada. After playing for CS St-Laurent, he had a short stint with CF Montreal’s academy before signing a pro contract with the MLS team in February 2022.

He played 26 games for Montreal that season, including 18 as a starter, with two goals and five assists.

Kone signed a 4 1/2-year contract with second-tier Watford in December 2022 after appearing in all three of Canada’s games at the 2022 World Cup.

“I’m only 20 and I get to play on a world stage,” he said in Qatar. “It’s unbelievable.”

“I didn’t have a professional contract two years ago, but here I am,” he added.

After 63 appearances for Watford across all competitions, Kone moved to Marseille in June 2024.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2025