Carney praises team after historic Canada World Cup win

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated World Cup final players and visited the national team's dressing room to praise their "character and resilience" following their historic 6–0 victory over Qatar on June 18, 2026.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney paid the ‌nation's soccer team a locker room visit after they secured the country's first World Cup finals match win and commended the players for the character they showed after one of their teammates went down with a broken leg.

Canada romped to a bittersweet 6-0 win over Qatar in Vancouver on Thursday but the victory was tempered by a serious injury to midfielder Ismael Kone following a tackle from behind by Assim Madibo.

The Qatari player was shown a red card and Nathan Saliba, who replaced Kone, scored moments later to make it 4-0 and celebrated by holding Kone's number eight jersey aloft before kissing it and making the sign of the cross.

"Let me just begin by acknowledging what you’re all feeling, I think, and the nation’s feeling, the terrible injury of Ismael ... and it’s in moments like that, that you see character in a real team," Carney, with the players standing in a circle around him, said in a video posted to his Instagram account.

"(Kone) applauds the fans coming off, he shakes the hands of the Qataris coming off. ‌Saliba comes on, steps up, scores. You hold up his jersey and you celebrate around that, you keep your cool."

Mark Carney praised the team’s performance following their historic first World Cup finals victory.

The Canadian prime minister said the team’s achievement reflects determination, unity, and national pride.