Ismael Kone was given Canada’s Performance of the Match award as they held France to a 0-0 draw in Bordeaux last night.

Meanwhile his fellow midfielder Edo Kayembe played the full 90 minutes as Congo DR beat Togo 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier.

Kone played the first 84 minutes as Canada warmed up for the soon-to-start Copa America by earning a draw with the French on their own turf.

 

That came three days after Canada had been beaten 4-0 in a friendly by Holland, in which Kone played 79 minutes.

Now the Hornets midfielder must wait to see if he makes it into head coach Jesse Marsch’s final squad for the Copa America in the United States, which begins on June 20.

Canada’s opening Group A game with Argentina is in Atlanta on the opening day, before they face Peru on June 25 (in Kansas) and Chile on June 29 (in Orlando).

Watford’s Francisco Sierralta will hope to be part of the Chile squad at the finals, although their head coach Diego Gareca has named a massive 55-man preliminary squad ahead of cutting it back to 26 by the deadline of June 12.

Chile have a friendly against Paraguay on Wednesday (1m UK time), after which Gareca will reduce his party.

They begin their Group A games against Peru on June 21 in Texas and then face Argentina in New Jersey on June 25, before the game with Canada in Orlando on June 29.

Kayembe helped his Congo DR team to victory over Togo yesterday, a win which means they are third in the six-team Group B of the CAF World Cup qualification.

Congo DR now don’t play another World Cup qualifier until they take on South Sudan in March 2025.

Giorgi Chakvetadze played 66 minutes as Georgia beat Montenegro 3-1 in a friendly in Podgorica yesterday.

That was their final warm-up game ahead of the Euro 2024 finals which start in Germany on Friday.

The Georgians will be based in Velbert, and are in Group F.

Their first game is against Turkey on June 18, and then they face Czech Republic (June 22) and Portugal (June 26).

Ryan Porteous was an unused substitute as Scotland drew 2-2 away to Finland in a friendly at Hampden Park on Friday night.

They will face hosts Germany in Munich in the opening game of the Euros finals on Friday June 14, before taking on Switzerland (June 19) and Hungary (June 23).

Yaser Asprilla was an unused sub as Colombia trounced the USA 5-1 in a friendly in Washington DC on Saturday.

They have a second friendly against Bolivia on Saturday, after which head coach Nestor Lorenzo will then trim his squad down to the required 26 players ahead of Colombia’s opening Copa America Group D game against Paraguay in Houston on June 24.

Colombia then play Costa Rica on June 28 (in Arizona), before facing Brazil in their final group game on July 2 (in California).