Canada fullback Alistair Johnston faces longer injury layoff after hamstring surgery

Canadian international fullback Alistair Johnston underwent hamstring surgery Tuesday after suffering a setback in his return from injury.

The 27-year-old from Aurora, Ont., was initially injured during Glasgow Celtic’s Aug. 20 Champions League game against Kazakh side Kairat Almaty. He returned against Austria’s Sturm Graz on Oct. 23 but only lasted 23 minutes.

Johnston, who has won 56 caps for Canada and has been a key starter under coach Jesse Marsch, confirmed news of the surgery via a social media post.

“These past few months have been as challenging as any for me personally since my career began,” he wrote. “With that being said, I’m happy to say that I successfully underwent surgery today to repair my hamstring and hopefully this will be the first step in putting this injury behind me for good.

“Thank you for the support during this time and I can’t wait to be back fully fit later this season for a title push and a home World Cup.”

Johnston’s Celtic teammate Callum Osmand has also undergone hamstring surgery

“So they’re going to be out for a long time,” Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill was quoted as saying by the BBC.

O’Neill said Johnston’s surgery came after damage shown by a scan.

“They had to wait a little while just to get a clear picture of the hamstring and the scan has shown a tear as well,” he said. “So that’s really sad because everybody says he’s a really, really good player.”

Marsch is missing several other players ahead of November friendlies against Ecuador and Venezuela.

The injured list includes captain Alphonso Davies, Moise Bombito, Sam Adekugbe, Jacob Shaffelburg, Liam Millar and Luc de Fougerolles.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2025.