Canada's Ismaël Koné has surgery for 2 broken bones in leg from World Cup match against Qatar

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canada midfielder Ismaël Koné had surgery after breaking the tibia and fibula in his left leg at the World Cup.

The 24-year-old Koné, coming off his first season with Italian club Sassuolo, was hurt during a tackle from behind by Assim Madibo during the 51st minute of Thursday’s 6-0 win over Qatar.

The Canada Soccer Association said Friday that Koné had surgery on Thursday night.

Madibo received a red card. He apologized in person to Koné after the game.

“You can’t even imagine how grateful I am to everyone who reached out and that has me in their prayers,” Koné posted on Instagram.

“To Canadian brothers, as I turned myself into (an) assistant coach to support you from the sideline. I wanted you to know that I love you guys from the bottom of my heart and our brotherhood is everything to me,” he added. “What you guys did yesterday will stay with me forever. I’ll be back very soon and we’ll keep making more memories together.”

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Canada head coach Jesse Marsch embraces Ismael Kone (8) as he is stretchered off the field after an injury during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Qatar in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Timothy Matwey/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Ismael Kone falls while sustaining an injury during the World Cup Group B soccer match against Qatar in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Canada's Ismael Kone, right, lays on the ground after sustaining an injury during the World Cup Group B soccer match against Qatar in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Canada's Ismael Kone reacts on the ground after sustaining an injury during the World Cup Group B soccer match against Qatar in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Mourners gathered Friday to bury a 6-month-old girl who died from Ebola earlier this week, the third child to die at an orphanage in eastern Congo as authorities have struggled to contain the latest outbreak.

Carrying a cross, people stood at a distance as the small coffin was lowered into the ground by masked and gloved health workers, and a Catholic priest prayed over her body.

“It’s a feeling of sadness because we have lost one of our own, a daughter of the church," said Father Innocent Ndogo.

“As we have always said, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.”

Ituri, the region at the center of the current outbreak, has reported more than 90% of the cases. The response has been complicated by residents clashing with healthcare professionals over disrupted burials and the response to the outbreak, which has been militarized at times.

The impersonal nature of safe burial practices and the severity of the epidemic were evident on Friday as only healthcare workers in protective gear were allowed to handle the coffin and the burial.

Bundibugyo, the type of Ebola in this outbreak, has no approved treatment or vaccine. Even health workers have said they don’t have the masks, gloves and other gear to protect themselves.

With 894 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths so far, the current outbreak is three times worse than a previous outbreak in Uganda in 2000 and risks 35,000 suspected potential contacts, Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. However, it is still not nearly as deadly as a 2014 outbreak that killed more than 11,000.

With no approved vaccines or treatments, the Bundibugyo strain was not tested for in the early days. This lack of testing is one of the reasons the outbreak has spread to such an extent. The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

Alex Lock, a communications officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, asked people to resist feeling indifferent.

"She was a baby. She had her whole life ahead of her. Unfortunately, she was taken by the disease, a disease that, as you know, is transmitted from one person to another," said Lock.

Although the outbreak is concentrated in Ituri, cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have spread across the border to Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases have been reported and two people have died.

McMakin contributed from Dakar, Senegal.

Red Cross workers prepare to bury Vanisa Anifa, a 6-month-old orphaned girl who died of Ebola, at the Bigo Cemetery, in Bunia, Congo, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

A woman holds a cross during a burial ceremony for Vanisa Anifa, a 6-month old orphaned girl who died of Ebolaat, in Bunia, Congo, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Red Cross workers prepare to bury Vanisa Anifa, a 6-month-old orphaned girl who died of Ebola, at the Bigo Cemetery, in Bunia, Congo, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Relatives of Vanisa Anifa, a 6-month-old orphaned girl who died of Ebola, attend her burial, in Bunia, Congo, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Catholic nuns from the orphanage where Vanisa Anifa, a 6-month-old orphaned girl who died of Ebola, was staying, attends her funeral in Bunia, Congo, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)