Soccer fans react as they watch the FIFA World Cup draw during a watch party organized by the City of Toronto at the St. Lawrence Market North Building, on Friday.EDUARDO LIMA/The Globe and Mail
Moments after Canada learned – well, sort of – who their first opponent will be at the 2026 World Cup, a loud groan rippled across a FIFA draw watch party in downtown Toronto. Across town in Little Italy, Rocco Mastrangelo Jr. felt something stirring deep within his chest.
Friday’s draw revealed that Italy is the presumptive favourite to face Canada when Toronto plays host to Canada’s first World Cup game on home soil next June, provided Italy − the four-time world champions − can win its playoff bracket against lower-ranked European teams in March.
For Mr. Mastrangelo, owner of Cafe Diplomatico, a landmark Italian restaurant and a long-time hub for Team Italy soccer fans, the prospect of Canada playing his beloved Azzurri was too much to bear.
“I think I’m having heart palpitations,” he said. “If they can make it and play Canada, I think I’ll need to have a cardiologist sitting beside me. This city is going to go nuts.”
A potential Canada-Italy matchup drew stronger fan reaction than the other two teams Canada learned it will face in its four-team group, No. 17-ranked Switzerland and No. 51-ranked Qatar. The final spot will go to either No. 12-ranked Italy, No. 32 Wales, No. 69 Northern Ireland or No. 71 Bosnia and Herzegovina. Canada is ranked No. 27.
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Mr. Mastrangelo was just 12 years old when Italy beat Germany at the 1982 World Cup, and remembers Toronto’s Italian community losing their collective minds. The 900-seat theatre where he was watching the game started shaking, he said. The party lasted three days.
With an estimated 500,000 people in Greater Toronto with a first- or second-generation link to Italy, a matchup between Canada and Italy is a dream come true, he said. Or a nightmare scenario, depending on your perspective.
“That’s a tough draw,” said Les Jones, a soccer historian from Kingston, who drove three hours to attend the Toronto watch party Friday. “Of course Canada will have to face Italy, and the U.S. will have a much easier path. It feels a little rigged.”
The reaction to Italy potentially playing Canada drew the loudest response at the downtown Toronto party, broadcasting live from Washington as U.S. President Donald Trump was showered with adulation by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. When Mr. Trump was presented with a new FIFA “peace prize,” some turned their backs to the screen. It was treated as a bit of comedy, earning as many chuckles as presenter Wayne Gretzky’s mispronunciation of Macedonia and Curaçao.
Fans and Canadian soccer players shared their excitement for who the country will face at the World Cup during an event to mark the group stage draw in Toronto on Friday.
The Canadian Press
In Vancouver, hundreds of people filled a brew pub early Friday morning for a watch party co-hosted by FIFA’s all-time top goal scorer, Christine Sinclair, who handed out soccer swag alongside former Vancouver Whitecaps captain and U.S. international star Jay DeMerit.
Carley McBeth, a fan in Vancouver, said she was thrilled by the result, which means the city will play host to Canada’s games against Switzerland and Qatar. The full schedule, including seven matches in Vancouver and six in Toronto, won’t be known until Saturday.
“It’s very exciting for Vancouver to be able to host the former host, Qatar,” said Ms. McBeth, who attended the 2022 tournament. “I’d also like to see Italy go through, for the first match of Canada’s run to be Italy-Canada would be amazing.”
Mario Canseco, a prominent pollster and political commentator who previously worked as a sports reporter in Mexico, acknowledged he was a little disappointed by Canada’s grouping.
“It would have been great to have a team with a heavy diaspora in Vancouver,” he said. “If we had gotten Iran, you pretty much guarantee that half of North Vancouver is going to show up at BC Place.”
On the flip side, Vancouver will be getting fans from two countries that like to spend money, Mr. Canseco said.
Montreal resident Peter Guglielmucci, whose extended family lives in Naples, says whether Italy gets in or not, he and his wife Carla and their 10-year-old twin boys are planning to snag tickets to the game in Toronto on June 12.
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“The air is going to feel electric there. It’s a road trip our family won’t ever forget,” he said. “Although, truth be told, if Toronto doesn’t work out, we’re also going to try to fly out for the Vancouver games. We don’t know when else something like this is ever going to happen again. All my cousins back home are so stinking jealous.”
Not everyone is ready to just give the final group spot to Italy, of course. Kevin Collinson, from the small seaside town of Llanfairfechan in Wales, is hopeful the Welsh can deliver an upset in March.
Depending on how his favourite team performs at the European playoffs, Mr. Collinson said he and his pals are planning to save their money and splurge on a trip to Canada.
“I’ve never been to Vancouver or Toronto. And if the Welsh lads are willing to put up their best fight, I’m willing to spend my money for that trip of a lifetime,” he said, by phone.
Calgary-born Mohammad Bilal Bokhari, who recently moved to Doha, Qatar, for engineering work and grew up playing what he calls “good ol’ Canadian soccer,” said he’s struggling to pick his team to root for.
“Don’t know if I’ll tell my Qatari friends,” he said, “but it’s absolutely surreal seeing fellow Canadians at the World Cup. I just can’t do without supporting and repping them this time.”
John Tory, the former mayor of Toronto who led the city’s bid to host the World Cup, said he’s less concerned with whom Canada faces and more that the country enjoys its historic moment as host.
“This could be a real boost to Canada, both psychologically and economically, when we really need it,” he said. “As long as we get over ourselves and just let it be.”
What’s Canada’s path to the World Cup?
On Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. ET, sports reporter Paul Attfield and columnist Cathal Kelly will answer reader questions on Canada’s path in the 2026 World Cup and how it could fare in the group matchups and beyond. Submit your questions in the form below, or by e-mailing audience@globeandmail.com with “World Cup” in the subject line.