{"id":514063,"date":"2026-03-04T16:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514063\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T16:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:34:08","slug":"wheres-the-hype-100-days-from-vancouver-hosting-world-cup-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514063\/","title":{"rendered":"Where’s the hype 100 days from Vancouver hosting World Cup matches?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In just under 100 days, the first FIFA World Cup match will be played at BC Place. However, in the lead-up to one of the biggest events in the world, some people have tempered expectations and serious concerns.<\/p>\n

Canada is hosting 13 matches, seven in Vancouver, and six in Toronto.<\/p>\n

1130 NewsRadio hit the streets to see how Vancouverites are feeling about the tournament and the world arriving.<\/p>\n

Alex says he doesn\u2019t think getting into the stadium will be accessible or affordable to most people.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the ticket prices I saw, not at all. I think it\u2019s pretty cost-prohibitive. Even more seats up in the nosebleeds. It seems to be pretty unaffordable for the average person. I couldn\u2019t spend that much money on it,\u201d said Alex.<\/p>\n

One Vancouver ticket re-seller says prices are so high that people may want to consider re-mortgaging their home nab a couple of seats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Others hope the events will be big for tourism, on which B.C.\u2019s economy relies to help boost its bottom line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll bring a lot of people and hopefully a lot of money into our economy. We need that. We need more money,\u201d said Kayla.<\/p>\n

The FIFA World Cup comes at a time when B.C. is swimming in red ink. The province\u2019s recent budget came with a reduction of 15,000 public sector jobs over three years and a projected deficit of $13.3 billion by 2026-27.<\/p>\n

The B.C. government estimated it could spend as much as $624 million on hosting duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not excited,\u201d said Sam.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the money the city is spending on that could be spent better. I don\u2019t really care about soccer, so it\u2019s just a lot of people to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others hope the matches will bring similar vibes to the 2010 Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a kid when the Olympics were in town. I remember how lively the city was and how active, and how much stuff was going on, and it was really interesting to see that,\u201d said Eric.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be nice to see everyone come, to see who shows up, and I think Team Canada looks good this year, hopefully\u2026 but it\u2019s cool to be put on an international stage again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew added, \u201cI think it\u2019ll bring a lot of new people to the city. People might like it, and they might stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawrence thinks hosting is what the city needs right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of objections to Expo 86. There were objections to the Winter Olympics, and they worked out great, and I think this will work out great, and people will have a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Millions of people are expected to make their way to North America to take in the beautiful game. Meanwhile, the United States and Mexico are both potential causes for geopolitical and safety concerns, with the two other host nations embroiled in violence at home and wars in other countries.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s men\u2019s national soccer team head coach Jesse Marsch is an American. Last year, he refuted U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s ongoing commentary on annexing Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada is a strong, independent nation that is deep-rooted in decency, really, and it\u2019s a place that values high ethics and respect,\u201d said Marsch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I have one message to our president, it\u2019s, \u2018Lay off the ridiculous rhetoric about Canada being the 51st state.\u2019 As an American, I\u2019m ashamed of the arrogance and disregard that we\u2019ve shown one of our historically oldest, strongest and most loyal allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first match at BC Place is on June 13. Team Canada will play on June 18 versus Qatar.<\/p>\n

\u2014With files from Ayden Singh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In just under 100 days, the first FIFA World Cup match will be played at BC Place. However,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-514063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}