Montreal's Ismaël Koné bursts into soccer's global spotlight

Not even in Ismaël Koné's wildest dreams would it all happen this fast. But the 20-year-old Montrealer is seeing soccer opportunities coming at him at an Alphonso-Davies-like speed.

Koné is poised to become — and determined to be — the biggest name soccer has ever produced out of Quebec. Based on how the last few months have gone for him, with rumours of English clubs like Sheffield United and Norwich City bidding for his services, there is little reason to doubt it.

Koné's run into the global spotlight started in March, following a match in Atlanta where the CF Montréal midfielder scored his first goal in Major League Soccer (MLS) league play. After the game, he got the news that Canada senior men's national team was calling him up.

"I didn't believe it because I was only four games into my (professional) career and I was like, 'that's a bit early,'" Koné said.

Days later, he was on the pitch in Costa Rica making his international debut. A few more days passed and he was celebrating with the nation as Canada qualified for Qatar 2022 — the country's first berth at a FIFA Men's World Cup since 1986.

Koné is on the roster for warm-ups later this month against Qatar and Uruguay and hopes to be named to the final roster for the sport's greatest showcase in November. Without question, clubs in Europe will be watching him closely.

A multimillion-dollar transfer out of Montreal to a European side seems inevitable.

"This could take my career to another level, going to the World Cup. I'm aware of this but I don't let it distract me," Koné said.

Koné was not quite eight years old when he left Ivory Coast for Montreal with his mother in 2010. She was searching for a fresh start. He faced a new world radically different from his West African home.

The two relied on each other as they adapted to the weather and the cultural differences.

"I left young. I left my family. I left my friends. So, it was a little bit hard for me," Koné recalls. "It was only me and my mom but I got through it and I'm happy that I'm Canadian now."

Koné's mother got a job working at a bank and they moved into Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood.

"The first friends I made were speaking only English and me, coming from Ivory Coast, I only spoke French,"

Koné says having English-speaking friends at a young age was difficult at first but now he's grateful to be fluently bilingual.