Canada star Derek Cornelius 'banished' from Rangers squad ahead of World Cup

Tom Weber

• 17 Mar 2026 14:01 CDT
• 3 min read

News

Rangers boss Danny Rohl has "banished" Marseille loanee Derek Cornelius from his squad, according to a report.

The Canada international joined the Ibrox club on a season-long loan in the summer transfer window, but he has not played for them since sustaining an injury in November.

Cornelius featured prominently under doomed head coach Russell Martin, and this initially continued after the arrival of Rohl. Five of his 12 appearances for Rangers came under the German.

However, the 28-year-old's Ibrox career is now over, according to Read Rangers. It is claimed that, though he returned to team training weeks ago, Cornelius has remained short of match fitness.

As a result, Rohl has ordered him to spend the remainder of his loan spell with the club's reserve team, currently coached by Malky Thomson. "His training gear has reportedly been moved out of the top team complex," the outlet adds.

Cornelius to be called up for Canada

Despite not being fit to play, Cornelius will be part of the Canada squad for the upcoming international break. Head coach Jesse Marsch has insisted that he wants the players who are likely to make the World Cup squad to be with the group, even if they currently can't feature.

"The March roster will include many of the injured players who can’t play in the games," the former Leeds coach said. "There’s a lot of guys who’ve had some long-term injuries.

"The likes of Alistair Johnston, Derek Cornelius and Promise David. We’re going to bring in a little bit of a bigger group, to include some of these injured players and in their return-to-play protocol.

"They might not feature in games, but we want them around the team. We still have enough time where guys have the ability to recover and get themselves back to 100%, or at least close to 100%, by June."

Cornelius will return to Marseille this summer, but he is likely to be on the move again. He fell out of favour towards the end of his first season with the Ligue 1 giants and was deemed surplus to requirements last year.

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