MONTREAL — It was the snide comments and quips that rubbed Alphonso Davies the wrong way.

Before the Canadian men’s team qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Davies had to listen to a lot of trash talk from his teammates at German club Bayern Munich about Canada’s perceived low standing in the international game.

“It’s all jokes, I understand that, but for me, sometimes I take it personally. Every time I go back home, I just want to prove to them (Canada is) getting better and better. For me, the goal is to make it to a World Cup and hopefully face some of my [Bayern] teammates in a World Cup and show them that we can compete here with you guys as well,” Davies said in November 2021.

Canada had just climbed to No. 48 in the FIFA world rankings, the first time it cracked the t

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