When Alfonso Davies runs to the lawn of the Alrejan Stadium on November 23 to face star-studded Belgium, it will mark the latest step in his extraordinary journey from the refugee camp to the World Cup.
The nimble Canadian winger and Bayern Munich winger has put so much energy into his record-breaking career that it's easy to forget he's still only 22 years old.
At a time when many professionals are still groping their way into the upper echelons of the sport, Davis is already a seasoned veteran.
Four Bundesliga titles, a Champions League champions medal and the FIFA Club World Cup are just some of the accolades Davis has received in his career, which began at the age of 15 in Major League Soccer.
This is a far cry from how the Pirate Wingguard started his life.
Davis was born at the turn of the century in a refugee camp in Ghana, where he spent the first four years of his life after his parents fled Liberia's civil war. When they went to fetch food, they had to step over the bodies, and according to Davis' mother, Victoria, he gave a grim reference to life in the camp.
To escape the squalor, his parents moved to Canada, first in Windsor, Ontario, and then in Edmonton, Alberta. In a country where hockey is king, Davis began to show great potential in extracurricular games in elementary school, and his talent was quickly discovered.
He joined a soccer academy in Edmonton and was impressed at a trial in Vancouver at the age of 14, where he joined the Whitecaps youth team. At just 15 years and 8 months old, he became the youngest Canadian to compete in the American profession. At the age of 16 years and 7 months, he became the youngest Canadian international, and was selected for the squad just days after becoming a Canadian citizen.
In July 2017, Davis ended up being the joint top scorer in the Gold Cup with three goals as Canada lost to Jamaica in the quarterfinals, which Jamaica lost 2-1 to the United States in the final.
Because of Davis' strength and speed, his former coach in Vancouver, Craig Dahlimpe, compared Davis to French teenager star Kylian Mbappe, but the youngster admitted that Lionel Mathey Messi is his idol.
In 2018, Bayern Munich signed Davis for a record price, signing a $22 million American player. After making several appearances in the 2018-2019 season, Davis' career took off in 2019-2020, especially in the 3-0 away win over Chelsea in the Champions League.
That pandemic-interrupted season ended with Davis winning the Champions League in Bayern's 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain, making him the first Canadian international to win the title. Although Davis was a big part of Team Canada's first World Cup qualification in 36 years, Davis missed for several months this year after contracting the inflammatory heart disease myocarditis after contracting Covid-19.
On 5 November, he limped back from a thigh injury in Bayern's 3-2 win over Hertha Berlin, but the club quickly said it had not affected his participation in the World Cup.
Davis enjoyed being one of Canada's stars in Qatar, though he admitted to being nervous about eventually reaching the World Cup. He's going to be a little nervous at the World Cup, Davis said in a recent interview. But for him, everyone has to be confident in themselves and go out and show what we have.
However, Canadian coach John Herdman joked that Davis may be secretly thinking about winning the World Cup. Herdman said he embodies the meaning of this team, the self-confidence, arrogance and the possibility of anything in this country.
"The kid is a refugee from West Africa, he won the Champions League trophy and the Bundesliga, and he's 22 years old. So, I'm sure he thinks he's winning this World Cup. This is the new Canadian way of thinking. ”