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Everybody Loves Alphonso Davies

Inside Alphonso Davies’s amazing journey to become the best Canadian soccer player of all time

When people talk about Alphonso Davies as a soccer player, the first thing they mention is his speed. It’s his superpower, his cheat code, his magic trick. It’s the thing that, along with relentless hard work, self-belief and a rocket-launching left foot, has made him the best soccer player in Canadian history. In a now-famous World Cup qualifying match against Panama last October, Davies sprinted 40 yards up the sideline, gently plucked the ball from the foot of a dawdling Panamanian, took it inside the penalty area, and then, outfoxing both defender and keeper, promptly put the ball in the back of the net. His top speed during that run was 37.1 kilometres an hour, a pace mere mortals would be lucky to reach on a bicycle. In the Bundesliga, the German football league where Davies plays for the titanic FC Bayern Munich, he’s set a league record of an equally astonishing 36.51 kilometres an hour.

But when people talk about Alphonso Davies as a person, the first thing they bring up is his decency. This is somehow even more magical, more impossible, than his game. A lot of people—maybe most people—when bestowed with the superhuman ability that Davies possesses, might become arrogant, or complacent, or just plain entitled. If anything, Davies has gone in the opposite direction. As his career has unfolded—from his first professional game, at age 15 with the Vancouver Whitecaps, to now, as starting left back for Bayern—he has conducted himself with uncommon humility and grace. At press conferences, he apologizes for getting yellow cards. When he learned that Canada’s men’s team had qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, he cried openly on his Twitch stream. His agent is the same guy who coached him when he was 11.

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On newsstands now: 

The Amazing Journey of Alphonso Davies

As part of our comprehensive package previewing the upcoming 2022 World Cup, Jason McBride profiles Canadian soccer superstar Alphonso Davies, who leads Canada to its first World Cup appearance in 36 years this November in Qatar.  

Also in this issue:

• Bilal Baig is on a launchpad to stardom 
• Unifor president Lana Payne on taking up the fight for workers 
• Kent Monkman's alter-ego is challenging colonial history 
• The making of an accused murderer 

Check it out