{"id":776034,"date":"2026-07-02T18:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/776034\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T18:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:37:09","slug":"iconic-footballer-arrives-in-mississauga-for-key-world-cup-match-in-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/776034\/","title":{"rendered":"Iconic footballer arrives in Mississauga for key World Cup match in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo steps off his team&#8217;s plane at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga on Wednesday. Ronaldo and Portugal take on Croatia in a World Cup round of 32 elimination match Thursday night in Toronto. (Photo: Toronto Pearson Airport X)<\/p>\n<p>Global soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has played a match in Toronto before, but not with this much on the line.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo, 41, and his teammates on Portugal touched down at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga on Wednesday evening, some 24 hours before they were scheduled to take on Croatia in a FIFA World Cup round of 32 knockout contest at Toronto Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Game time is 7 p.m. Thursday with the winner moving on to the round of 16. It\u2019s the final 2026 World Cup match to take place in Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo, widely regarded as among the greatest players in the sport\u2019s history and the best-ever Portuguese player, was 24 years old when he played his only other game in Toronto. He and his Real Madrid teammates defeated Toronto FC 5-1 in an exhibition match on Aug. 7, 2009.<\/p>\n<p>During his storied career, Ronaldo has won 35 trophies \u2014 including five UEFA Champions Leagues \u2014 as one of the most decorated players in the history of professional soccer.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Some arrivals are just a little more iconic. \u2708\ufe0f\ufffc\u2070\u2070Welcome to Toronto, Cristiano Ronaldo. \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf9 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1b2YZkzLDC\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/1b2YZkzLDC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Toronto Pearson (@TorontoPearson) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TorontoPearson\/status\/2072452009177895214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, Portugal\u2019s captain has yet to win a FIFA World Cup title, though he holds numerous tournament records including becoming the first player to score a goal in six different World Cups.<\/p>\n<p>In total, Ronaldo has netted 10 goals in World Cup play, including a four-goal showing at the 2018 tournament in Russia. He has two goals so far at the 2026 competition.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Fans expected to turn out in droves<\/p>\n<p>Despite a stifling heat wave and some event cancellations, fans in Toronto are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insauga.com\/large-fan-crowds-expected-in-sweltering-toronto-for-portugal-croatia-world-cup-match\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">expected to turn out in droves tonight<\/a> to watch Portugal take on Croatia.<\/p>\n<p>It could possibly be the final World Cup match of Ronaldo\u2019s legendary career, and videos posted to social media show hundreds of fans waiting outside the team\u2019s hotel and practice site in Toronto yesterday to catch a glimpse of the soccer star.<\/p>\n<p>More fans are expected to come to Toronto in waves for the city\u2019s last match, despite an extreme weather forecast.<\/p>\n<p>A heat warning is in place for Toronto, with the humidity at kickoff expected to make it feel like 42 C. A strong thunderstorm is also possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 With files from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-830001\" class=\"wp-image-830001 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cristiano-at-pearson-3-waving.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"801\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-830001\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cristiano Ronaldo waves to fans Wednesday at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga. (Photo: Toronto Pearson Airport X)<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">No keeping this excitement on the sidelines. \u26bd\ud83d\udd25\u2070\u2070With Team Portugal \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf9 and Team Croatia \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf7 set to take the stage for the final game in Toronto, fans of both teams have their game faces on in the terminals today. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XAno33aB03\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/XAno33aB03<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Toronto Pearson (@TorontoPearson) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TorontoPearson\/status\/2072733188930101463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insauga.com\/editorial-guidelines\" class=\"editorial-guidelines-link d-block mb-4\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n            INsauga&#8217;s Editorial Standards and Policies        <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Last 30 Days: 42,315 Votes<\/p>\n<p>All Time: 1,409,959 Votes<\/p>\n<p>    3662 VOTES<br \/>\n    Have you ever dined at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Ontario?    <\/p>\n<p>\tWIN A $100 GIFT CARD<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to INsauga\u2019s daily email newsletter for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card.<\/p>\n<p>    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo steps off his team&#8217;s plane at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga on Wednesday. Ronaldo&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194297],"tags":[49,48,55405],"class_list":["post-776034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mississauga","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mississauga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776034","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=776034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}