Canada captain Alphonso Davies is one of the biggest players at the 2026 World Cup, but his journey to the top of world football began with the extraordinary sacrifices made by his parents.
Before Davies became a household name with Bayern Munich and the Canadian national team, his father, Debeah Davies, and mother, Victoria Davies, fled the violence of the Liberian Civil War in search of a safer future for their family.
From War in Liberia to a Refugee Camp in Ghana
Debeah and Victoria are originally from Monrovia, Liberia. When civil war engulfed the country, they made the difficult decision to leave their home and seek refuge in neighboring Ghana.
The family settled in the Buduburam refugee camp, where Alphonso Davies was born on November 2, 2000. He is one of six children, and his early years were spent in the camp before the family was granted refugee status in Canada in 2005.
They eventually settled in Edmonton, Alberta, where Debeah worked to support the family while Alphonso began playing organized soccer.
Looking back on those years, Davies has often spoken about the sacrifices his parents made to give him and his siblings opportunities they never had.
Meet Debeah and Victoria Davies
Although Alphonso has become an international football star, his parents have largely stayed out of the public spotlight.
Debeah worked hard to provide for the family after arriving in Canada, while Victoria focused on raising their six children after enduring years of hardship during the family's displacement.
Both parents have occasionally shared memories of escaping Liberia and life in the refugee camp, describing the uncertainty they faced before starting over in Canada.
Their resilience has had a lasting impact on Davies, who frequently credits them for teaching him humility, perseverance, and gratitude.
Davies has never forgotten where his family came from.
In 2021, he became the first footballer and the first Canadian to be named a Global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), using his own family's refugee story to advocate for displaced people around the world.
His journey from a refugee camp in Ghana to captaining Canada at the FIFA World Cup is one of football's most inspiring stories, and Davies has repeatedly said that none of it would have been possible without the courage and determination of his parents.
