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Canada's Alistair Johnston speaks during a press conference in Houston on July 3, 2026, ahead of their round of 16 FIFA World Cup soccer game against Morocco. Ashley Landis/AP Photo
Canadian national soccer team player Alistair Johnston says he was flown to the wrong city and lost track of his bags are after flying with a budget American airline.
Johnston posted about the mishap on social media on July 5, saying his flight was with the U.S.-based Frontier Airlines.
“I’m still not sure where my bags are and I’m in the wrong city somehow,” Johnston said.
The Canadian Men’s National Team replied to Johnston’s post about half an hour later asking, “Where did they send you.”
The location of Johnston’s departure or where he was headed was not immediately clear, but his post came the day after Canada’s 3–0 loss to Morocco on July 4 in Houston, Texas.
Johnston and Frontier Airlines did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
Frontier is based in Denver, Colorado, and describes itself as the biggest ultra-low-cost airline in the United States, saying it flew about 33 million passengers on more than 440 nonstop routes in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean last year.
Following its loss to Morocco, Canada was eliminated from the Round of 16 and will finish 14th out of 48 teams in the 2026 World Cup.
Vancouver-born Johnston, 27, plays right-back and racked up six shots, with two on goal, in this year’s World Cup. Internationally, he plays for Celtic Football Club in Glasgow, Scotland.
“Thank you Canada!!” Johnston posted July 5 on X alongside a photo of Team Canada celebrating on the pitch. “I hope that you all had as much fun as we did on that journey.”
Flight
Fellow X user Danny Pham posted a photo with Johnston at an unspecified U.S. airport, saying that he had caught “the next connecting flight” out of the airport after a “genuinely ridiculous” experience.
“Hey AJ I managed to get on the next connecting flight it was genuinely ridiculous, Frontier turned a 2.5 hour flight into 8-9 hours flight + a horrendous delay(14hours),” Pham posted July 6. “After we took the next flight that they rebooked us to. I know where your bag is its at the original airport.”
The original airport Pham referred to appeared to be Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, where Pham said he thought he had seen a Canada Soccer-tagged bag in the baggage claim area.
“I don’t think anyone picked it up try calling frontier officials at RDU you might be able to get it back the sooner you make contact,” Pham wrote.