NHL star Macklin Celebrini, Airbnb team up for World Cup experience

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San Jose Sharks forward will help lead a soccer camp before guests head to a game at Toronto Stadium

Published May 26, 2026 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 3 minute read

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Canadian hockey star Macklin Celebrini. Photo by HANDOUT /AIRBNBArticle content

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Macklin Celebrini, 19, may be one of Canada’s biggest hockey stars, but he also knows his way around a soccer pitch.

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The San Jose Sharks centre and co-captain grew up in North Vancouver, B.C., with a pro soccer-playing dad, Rick Celebrini, who played with the now-defunct Vancouver 86ers between 1993 and 1996, and a college soccer-playing mother.

“Growing up, I loved playing both sports, so I split my time between hockey and soccer practice, finding a good balance, but I think at the end of the day I just loved hockey,” said Celebrini, currently serving as captain for Team Canada at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in Switzerland.

”I think I was a bit more talented at soccer,” he said, adding, “Actually, for hockey, part of our warmup, we kind of play ‘keep up’ before our games.”

But Celebrini is trading skates for soccer cleats, if only momentarily, as part of a two-night event with Airbnb in conjunction with the FIFA World Cup.

Canadian hockey star Macklin Celebrini. AIRBNB HANDOUT Photo by airbnb

Beginning June 2 at 9 a.m., fans aged 18 and older can request to book the Toronto Two-Nighter.

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Five spots are available for the July 1–3 trip, each bookable for one guest and a plus-one on a first-come-first-serve basis with no costs to guests. Travel to and from Toronto is not included.

Itinerary includes accomodation, dinner, fireworks, soccer camp and a World Cup game

On July 1, guests will check into one of five of Toronto’s “most vibrant neighbourhoods” for a Canada Day starting with a celebratory dinner and waterfront fireworks.

The next day, July 2, they will join Celebrini for a soccer camp with expert coaches near the Ossington strip, including some of his favourite pre-game snacks (cheese and crackers, apples, SunChips, milk chocolate).

“We’re going to keep some of it secret,” Celebrini said. “But it’s pretty much going to be a bunch of drills and different activities on the soccer field and just educating the others about the rules and some of the things that go into playing soccer. It’s going to be super fun.”

Afterwards on July 2, they’ll make their way to Toronto Stadium (BMO Field) to witness the city’s final FIFA World Cup 2026 match before checking out on July 3 and heading to a local Toronto foodie Airbnb experience to round out the stay.

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Celebrini said his family connections to “the beautiful game” made his involvement with the Airbnb event a no-brainer.

“It was partially because of my background in soccer,” he said. “And when they approached me, they did this survey and not a lot of Canadians or Americans knew the rules, or really knew much about soccer, and with my background, with my parents and my grandpa was Croatian and I have a little bit of history with soccer and there’s a passion for it in my family and just an opportunity to educate others.”

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Celebrini’s family has a soccer background. AIRBNB HANDOUT Photo by airbnb

Celebrini, who was just a little kid in the stands when his dad played pro soccer, himself will taking in some FIFA World Cup 2026 action when he returns to the West Coast.

“I’m going to a game in Vancouver, the round-of-16 game, whoever makes it,” he said. “It’ll be July 7. I’m super excited. I saw my dad who ended up working for the Whitecaps (as physiotherapist, now the director of sports medicine and performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors) and so I was able to go to a bunch of Whitecaps games. And so the thought of going to a World Cup game with the attention around it and how big of an event that is, I’m super excited.”

Airbnb is also offering the exclusive chance to play a match on the Toronto Stadium pitch alongside Canadian soccer legend Dwayne De Rosario and current international defender Kadeisha Buchanan on July 3.

Fans can request to book starting June 1 at 1 p.m.. For more details, visit airbnb.com/playwithpros.

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