Canada star Ismael Kone returns to St. Laurent after historic Copa run

Ismael Kone returns to St. Laurent after Copa Team Canada midfielder Ismael Kone returned from the Copa America this week to a hero's welcome at his hometown soccer club in St. Laurent.

Team Canada midfielder Ismael Kone returned from the Copa America this week to a hero's welcome at his hometown soccer club in Montreal's Saint-Laurent borough.

The 22-year-old former CF Montreal and Watford F.C. player signed with Olympique Marseille in France's top league this month, and he took some rare downtime to visit young soccer players at the Saint-Laurent Sports Complex on Tuesday.

Kone is coming off a collection of standout performances at the Copa America that was capped with an stunning bicycle kick against Uruguay in the third-fourth place game on Saturday.

He was a key part of Canada's historic run at the Copa where the team ticked off a number of firsts and firsts-in-a-long-time.

Canada not only finished ahead of the USA and Mexico at the tournament, but also made it further than five-time Wold Cup winners Brazil.

It was the first time in over two decades that the red-and-white beat a team from South America and first time ever that the team made it out of the group stages at an international tournament.

Kone started in four games for Canada and played in five. It is the second international tournament for Kone, who played in all three games for Canada at the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

Kone was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and moved to Montreal in 2010 with his mother when he was seven years old.