REPORT: CanMNT centre back Moïse Bombito out long term after suffering fractured tibia

Moïse Bombito's injury woes have continued, as just after returning from a stress fracture in his tibia, he then fractured his tibia in OGC Nice's match vs. AS Monaco on Sunday, as first reported by the Athletic's Joshua Kloke, and confirmed by OneSoccer. 

Fractured tibia for Bombito. https://t.co/H9WGgmO3xi

— Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) October 5, 2025

As a result, Bombito is now set for an extended spell on the sidelines, with the timeline for this injury reportedly around four to six months. 

That's a big blow for the CanMNT, who have suffered some major injuries to their backline in 2025, as they're currently without Alphonso Davies due to a long-term knee injury, Alistair Johnston due to a hamstring problem, and Sam Adekugbe due to an Achilles injury. Plus, they've also missed Bombito for extended periods already in 2025, as he missed the Canadian Shield friendly tournament and the Gold Cup in June and July due to wrist surgery, before his stress fracture kept him out of the September window. 

Now, he won't see the pitch until 2026, as even a four-month absence would keep him out until early February - a six-month recovery would bump that timeline to early April. 

Of course, the good news within all that is that, barring a setback, he still looks in a good position to return in time for next summer's World Cup, although he'll still have to work up to full fitness once recovered, which means he might not be fully at 100% come next June. Plus, he'll miss out on at least two valuable CanMNT windows this fall, while being a long shot to be back in time for their March window, which would leave him with just the June pre-tournament window before the World Cup kicks off, which is less than ideal from a preparation standpoint.

Certainly, Canada will miss him, as he'd played every minute in the first 15 games of head coach Jesse Marsch's tenure, although his absence has opened the door for centre backs Luc De Fougerolles and Joel Waterman to stake out a bigger role in this team, alongside Bombito's regular partner, Derek Cornelius. 

Lastly, it's worth noting that Bombito's not the first Canadian player to suffer a similar injury recently - Tajon Buchanan suffered a broken tibia while at the 2024 Copa América, and was out for around four and a half months before returning to action, which is encouraging from Bombito's standpoint.