HOUSTON — For all but 15 minutes of Canada’s historic run through this summer’s FIFA World Cup, Alphonso Davies sat on the bench.

Many expected the national squad’s captain to be in the lineup on Saturday when Canada faced its toughest test in the tournament — a round-of-16 matchup against Morocco.

But Davies was not in the starting lineup and did not come in as a substitute as Canada fell 3-0 and saw its breakout performance come to an end.

“Obviously, at the 60th minute, when it’s 1-0, it would have been great to have him in the match, or even at halftime, right?” head coach Jesse Marsch said of the decision. “But we weren’t able to have him healthy, and it killed him more than anyone. But I think it was the right decision to preserve him in his career, and get him fully healthy.”

It wasn’t the tournament Davies expected.

“Mentally for me, it was tough,” he said. “Obviously, every game to sit there and watch, knowing you want to be on the pitch, it’s tough. It’s tough. But, obviously, at the end of the day, I know that I have to support the guys in a different way.”

Davies picked up a hamstring injury in early May while playing for Bayern Munich in a Champions League semifinal, the latest in a long string of lower-body ailments.

He missed Canada’s training camp in Charlotte, N.C., in late May, but was still named to the nation’s 26-man roster and joined the team in Edmonton ahead of a pre-tournament tune-up game.

For weeks, the 25-year-old left back worked mostly apart from his teammates, working with his personal trainer Matthias Blankenburg, whom he brought into Canada’s camp from Germany.

Davies didn’t get into the lineup for the team’s three group-stage games on home soil, but Marsch pledged the standout athlete would be available when Canada took on South Africa in the round of 32 last Sunday.

He came on in the 74th minute and made an impact, slicing balls across the pitch and drawing opponents in to create space for his teammates.

Then, on Friday, Davies “felt a little bit of something” in training.

Marsch said he underwent an MRI that came back clear, but didn’t feel right when he woke up on Saturday morning and opted against playing.

“He was on a very linear path up until two days ago, and then he felt a little something,” the coach said. “It turned out that it wasn’t anything significant, but he didn’t feel right, and we didn’t want to stress it.”

After the loss to Morocco, Davies told reporters he decided not to play because he didn’t feel as though he could give 100 per cent.

“I don’t want to be a burden on the team or on the pitch, and I’ll give my all every time I play the game,” he said. “I want to give my all and fully play this game, with freedom and no injuries. But this time it was tough.”

Davies has become the face of Canada’s men’s soccer program.

Born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled civil war in Liberia, he grew up in Edmonton and shared his story with the FIFA Congress in June 2018 as part of Canada’s bid to co-host this summer’s tournament.

Davies then made history in 2022, scoring the nation’s first goal in a men’s World Cup.

His presence would have been felt against Morocco on Saturday, said vice-captain Stephen Eustaquio.

“I think Phonzie helped us in a way that he could. If he could have helped us more, he would,” said the veteran midfielder. “Obviously, we needed him today. We missed him. If there’s somebody that can face (Morocco’s Achraf) Hakimi, it’s Phonzie … We felt that we missed our best player, but at the same time, everybody presented themself at a good level. And I’m very proud of the group.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2026.