{"id":733326,"date":"2026-06-13T02:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T02:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/733326\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T02:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T02:56:09","slug":"fans-celebrate-canadas-first-world-cup-game-on-home-soil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/733326\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans celebrate Canada\u2019s first World Cup game on home soil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans react after Canada tied 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first 2026 World Cup match hosted in Toronto.JOHN SOKOLOWSKI\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Canada was gripped by soccer mania on Friday as the men\u2019s national team played its first-ever World Cup game on home soil. <\/p>\n

Toronto, which hosted Canada\u2019s 1-1 tie with Bosnia-Herzegovina<\/a>, got a dose of World Cup magic as fans paraded through the streets, packed the stadium and gathered at watch parties. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo see the atmosphere, all these people, and our Canadians on Canadian soil, it\u2019s fantastic,\u201d said Barbara Di Mambro, who took in the game at Nathan Phillips Square outside Toronto City Hall. <\/p>\n

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Jennifer Hummel, left, and Barbara Di Mambro at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on Friday.Om Shanbhag\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Terry Mutoko rushed to the square after finishing work. \u201cWe are all super pumped up,\u201d she said. \u201cThe city is buzzing, everybody is so excited, everybody is so happy, there\u2019s so much joy here.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the game counted down its final minutes, the square was packed with Team Canada supporters. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all tense the first hour, then they scored and everybody went wild,\u201d said Linda Mackay. \u201cWe\u2019re all proud to be Canadian today.\u201d <\/p>\n

Parth Vats joined a watch party for newcomers and correctly predicted the Canadians would score in the second half of the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really proud time for the country to see our own Team Canada play in our own homeland,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Mayor Olivia Chow welcomed thousands of fans at FIFA Fan Festival, saying the city is coming together to celebrate and share in soccer\u2019s spirit. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a city built by immigrants. One of the most diverse cities in the world. It\u2019s a place where we embrace and not divide. Where we welcome everyone, and not exclude,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Denisa Rizvic, back left, Denis Husidic, back right, Azra Rizvic, left, and Natalia Trokic pose for a picture after a watch party at Mrakovic Fine Foods in Etobicoke, Ont.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Many fans ventured to Toronto Stadium without tickets, listening instead on their phones and cheering at key moments as they soaked up the atmosphere. A few hoped they could buy last-minute tickets to witness soccer history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figured it was worth a shot,\u201d said Toronto\u2019s Scott Burchill, who came to the game with $100 in his pocket and a Canada flag draped around his neck. \u201cI just wanted to scratch a World Cup game off my list.\u201d <\/p>\n

The World Cup\u2019s debut in Canada followed months of controversy over steep ticket prices and the skyrocketing price of hosting the tournament, including policing, infrastructure and transit costs. <\/p>\n

Security was tight around the stadium, with scores of police officers patrolling the area on foot, horseback and with canine units. Two people were arrested for allegedly assaulting two officers, who sustained minor injuries as they responded to \u201caltercations in the stands\u201d before the game began, said police spokeswoman Constable Stephanie Miceli. <\/p>\n

The city\u2019s first game of the megatournament snarled traffic in the downtown area, where some streets were blocked off. Officials urged fans to take transit \u2013 which had increased service \u2013 but some riders complained of delays and packed streetcars, buses, subways and commuter trains. <\/p>\n

About 100 fans took in the game while soaking up the afternoon sun on the patio of Paris Parison Ossington Avenue in the city\u2019s west end, where staff wore custom jerseys. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s high-fiving each other. No one knows each other, but that\u2019s kind of what it\u2019s all about,\u201d said Carlos Fernandes, who works at the wine bar and restaurant. <\/p>\n

Many Bosnia-Herzegovina fans watching the game on a 26-foot LED screen at a party outside Mrakovic Fine Foods in Etobicoke in the west end sighed in relief when the game ended in a draw. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll take it,\u201d said Azra Rizvic, a Bosnian American who travelled to Toronto from Indiana. <\/p>\n

Before the game began, Mirela and Majda Mulic, a mother and daughter who came to Canada in 1993 during the Bosnian War, said they would be rooting for both teams. <\/p>\n

\u201cFIFA\u2019s playing with our emotions right now,\u201d said Mirela, who wore a Bosnia-Herzegovina flag dress, bucket hat and blue-and-yellow manicure. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Mirela Mulic, left, and her mother Majda Mulic wait for the start of the match at the watch party held by Mrakovic Fine Foods.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Across the country, fans packed into pubs, living rooms and backyards to be part of the energy of the historic day. <\/p>\n

In Vancouver, which hosts its first World Cup game on Saturday, Jae Kim was heading to meet friends at a bar to cheer on his adopted country of Canada, buoyed by his birth country South Korea\u2019s opening win against Czech Republic the previous night. <\/p>\n

The 44-year-old hotel cook fondly remembers experiencing the 2002 World Cup in his hometown of Seoul and is excited about the Vancouver games despite being disillusioned with the stratospheric ticket prices and demands FIFA has extracted from the host cities. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey just want money,\u201d he said of soccer\u2019s global governing body.<\/p>\n

In Montreal, fans gathered at the Bishop & Bagg pub went wild when Canada tied the game 1-1. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe deserved that, we deserved that,\u201d cried Spiro Malandrakis. \u201cThat\u2019s 80 minutes of work.\u201d <\/p>\n

FIFA World Cup 2026: How to watch, game day schedules, Canada’s roster and everything you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n

Not everyone in the city found a comfortable place to take in the game. One woman on St-Viateur Street \u2013 of bagel fame \u2013 was watching on a 16-inch MacBook as she walked down the street. <\/p>\n

In Halifax, hundreds of people had their eyes glued to a giant outdoor screen at the foot of Citadel Hill. Many wore red jerseys emblazoned with the surname of Jacob Shaffelburg, a Canadian player from Port Williams, N.S., as well as the team captain, Alphonso Davies. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge deal and we got to come out and represent,\u201d said Justin Sperdakes of Halifax. \u201cJust to be here with the community and support our hometown guy Jacob Shaffelburg as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jeffrey Adjei of Halifax, sporting a Davies jersey, said he\u2019s a huge fan of the soccer player who like him is originally from Ghana. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just a big fan, and I\u2019m supporting Canada as well,\u201d he said, standing next to his friend on the grass. Though if Canada and Ghana make it to the finals, it will be tough to decide who to root for, he added.<\/p>\n

With reports from Om Shanbhag, Matthew Frank, Greg Mercer, Simon Houpt, Lana Hall, Sophia Bertuzzi, Olivia Grandy, Mike Hager, Eric Andrew-Gee and Lindsay Jones<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Fans react after Canada tied 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first 2026 World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,561,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-733326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733326","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=733326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}