Why is Alphonso Davies not playing for Canada in World Cup 2022 qualifying?

Canada and Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies was notably absent during Canada's victory over the United States Men's National Team on January 30, and he won't be featuring in his side's World Cup 2022 qualifier against El Salvador, either.

So why is the left-back absent, and when will he be back playing again? GOAL takes a look.

Why is Alphonso Davies not playing for Canada vs El Salvador?

Davies will not be playing in Canada's World Cup 2022 qualifier against El Salvador as he is currently recovering from contracting Covid-19 earlier in the month.

Following Davies' positive test, Bayern Munich also announced a diagnosis of "mild myocarditis," which is an inflammation of the heart.

Canada stated that Davies would not be involved in the fixtures against the USMNT on January 30 and the qualifier against El Salvador on February 2 to allow Davies to fully recover.

What was said?

Canada manager John Herdman stated that while he and his team would be disappointed by Davies' absence, they'd still remain focused and resilient.

"Firstly, we wish Alphonso the best of health and hope he recovers," Herdman told reporters. "We can't deny that it's a big loss on a number of reasons. He's such an infectious personality when he's in the camp, and you miss him when he's not here. But we have to adapt, it's part of this story.

"We've been on this World Cup qualification journey since March of last year, and we've had a lot of ups and downs with players coming in and out, and we've responded and I think that's key to all this. There's a mentality in this group that these things are going to happen, and it's an opportunity now for someone else to respond and make sure that we stay on track to qualify for the World Cup."

Davies has been a pivotal figure in the Canada side during this qualification phase, having scored a goal and notched three assists – while Canada registered three wins and four draws in the matches he's featured in.

Nevertheless, Canada did register a 2-0 victory over the USMNT in a game that Davies was forced to sit out to go top of the Concacaf hexagonal qualification table.

How long will Alphonso Davies be out for?

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann told reporters on January 14 that Davies had tested positive for Covid-19 – as well as the heart inflammation – so it is likely that Davies could return to club training in early or mid-February.

Nagelsmann said at the time: “Yesterday, during our follow-up examination that we do with every player that has had COVID-19, we detected signs of mild myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle.

“He has stopped training for now, so he won't be available to us for the next weeks.

“This myocarditis isn't too dramatic based on the ultrasound, but more simply signs of an inflammation. Nevertheless, it needs to heal and that will no doubt take some time.”

Further reading

• Oh Canada! Larin, Adekugbe and co. show USMNT and the world they're for real
• Watch: Davies loses mind reacting to Canada goal on live stream as nation closes in on World Cup qualification
• USMNT World Cup 2022 qualifying: Group, fixtures, results & everything you need to know
• Alphonso Davies diagnosed with mild myocarditis by Bayern Munich after recovering from Covid-19