\u201cI think it would be really good to represent my country,\u201d said 12-year-old Riley Ross, who trains with Toronto Athletic FC Academy (TAFC), in an interview with CTV News Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think watching (the World Cup) just made me see how good I need to be \u2014 and they show how much people look up to them \u201d<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s last two World Cup appearances have inspired a new generation of young Canadian boys to pick up the game, with soccer camps and academies reporting surging numbers of new kids signing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only gotten up from here and it brings them really energized \u2014 and it makes them want to come out and join these academies and become the next generation that\u2019s going to make it into that top eight (in the Knockout Round) next time,\u201d said Selena Pidgeon, who works as a soccer coach with TAFC. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe only had maybe one or two teams (in this academy) per year \u2014 and now we\u2019re up to I think we have about 30 teams here plus going \u2014 so it\u2019s growing in the last couple of years,\u201d added Pidgeaon. \u201cThat passion has been embedded in these kids. It\u2019s growing for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although more Canadians are adopting the sport and soccer experts say Canada is on the right track, it still has a long way to go if it wants to have its men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer squads take the next step and match the level of competition seen in other soccer nations.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/UIFTOHNXRCXPGHALZF4HTP5ZKM.jpg\")
Canada’s Luc de Fougerolles (4) sits on the turf following the team’s loss to Morocco in FIFA World Cup round of 16 soccer action, in Houston, Saturday, July 4, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Frank Gunn Canada’s Luc de Fougerolles (4) sits on the turf following the team’s loss to Morocco in FIFA World Cup round of 16 soccer action, in Houston, Saturday, July 4, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Frank Gunn More professional soccer academies<\/p>\n
For one, former Canadian men\u2019s national soccer team players and current coaches agree that Canada needs more professional soccer academies. Those are specialized training centers run by a professional club \u2014 that first scout and find young athletes, then take them in to develop them into elite players by providing expert coaching, strict physical conditioning, and a direct pathway to professional competition.<\/p>\n
Right now, Canada has three Major League Soccer teams that provide a high level of soccer academies, which is a lot fewer than other soccer countries \u2014 but more than there used to be over a decade ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose opportunities weren\u2019t there ten to fifteen years ago in the abundance they are now,\u201d said Colin Miller, former Canadian men\u2019s national soccer team captain, in a Zoom interview with CTV News. There was a time when top-quality players had to go to Europe or another country to learn to play the game or make a living from the game. These players now can stay in Canada and make a living playing football.<\/p>\n
The launch of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) is a step forward in having more professional academies locally that can find and develop young talent in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese Canadian Premier League clubs are seeing what\u2019s going on in the community and they\u2019re bringing their best young players into these environments as early as possible, giving them first team experience, as well as bringing players from all over the world to complement the education,\u201d said Miller.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3VR6IHSPKRALNIQOE44AUBEXOU.jpeg\")
Fans walk into a Canadian Premier League match Fans walk into a Canadian Premier League match. <\/p>\n
But Canada\u2019s official Host City Ambassador for the World Cup, Dwayne De Rosario, believes Canada\u2019s professional sports academies still have a long way to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the foundation is built enough. I think CPL still has a long way to go, with all due respect,\u201d he said in an interview with CTV News Sunday. <\/p>\n
\u201cStill, with our under-17s, the U-20s and Olympics that we have to qualify for \u2014 so there\u2019s a lot to be done. And we\u2019re just hoping that off the strength of this recent success that our men\u2019s team has and the attention that they\u2019ve gravitated towards and the program, now that people see, soccer as a business opportunity to invest in youth, invest in the growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Rosario points to countries like Morocco, which have invested in their youth programs and have seen surging success in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were playing a Moroccan side that just won the U-20 World Cup last year \u2014 so you know, they\u2019re doing something right over there,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018This whole journey has been special\u2019: De Rosario on Canada\u2019s World Cup performance FIFA World Cup ambassador and Canada\u2019s most decorated professional soccer player Dwayne De Rosario discusses Canada\u2019s elimination in round 16. <\/p>\n
More infrastructure, coaches and funding<\/p>\n
Tosaint Rcketts, a former Canadian national team player, also says Canada needs more player residency centers, where young and developing athletes can be surrounded by the game every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need now to come from this is sustainability \u2014 and that comes through creating a national team residency center, obviously starting with one and then getting multiple, a lot of the other football nations have that and have that established,\u201d said Ricketts in a Zoom interview with CTV News Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo not only a place where not only our kids can grow, but they can get professional training, accommodations. A hub where teams can come together of various age groups, so that\u2019s one big step.\u201d<\/p>\n
Projects like that require government funding, which has historically been weaker in Canada \u2014 and a big reason it has lagged behind countries like Germany, France, England, Spain and Japan.<\/p>\n
Canada Soccer\u2019s sponsorship and commercial revenue have also been one of its biggest weaknesses, with its previous and heavily-criticized partnership deal with Canadian Soccer Business only allowing about $3 million each year to go to the federation. Now a new deal has brought a bit more optimism that Canada Soccer will receive a larger sum to be able to invest in its player development.<\/p>\n
Soccer analysts also say Canada needs to train its coaches to match the level of other global soccer nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to bring in more former football players into the fold, into the decision-making, into the leadership roles and, create opportunity like we do it our like we see what our neighbors in the U.S. that are now coaching our national team, that are coaching our professional team in Toronto,\u201d added de Rosario.<\/p>\n
Making the game more affordable<\/p>\n
But with the sport continuing to grow in Canada, it\u2019s also become out of reach for some Canadian families, according to de Rosario, who says there need to be fewer barriers to entry for young and aspiring players.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids like myself, we\u2019re coming from inner-city communities, we\u2019re coming from challenging environments, we\u2019re coming from immigrant families \u2014 and the cost of football is becoming very unaccessible to kids in these communities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He points to places like Scarborough, Brampton and Mississauga, where, he says, once there were many more fields for unstructured play. Now, there are more private fields where playing and training cost money.<\/p>\n
Unlike many of the world\u2019s top soccer nations, Canada relies heavily on a pay-to-play model \u2014 that means a child\u2019s opportunity to reach the highest level is often influenced by their family\u2019s finances. <\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s model differs from countries like Germany, which identifies talented players early and then absorbs most development costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSoccer may not be the biggest sport in Canada but it\u2019s the most participated in, there\u2019s over a million participants \u2014 and the next step for that is to provide the resources in their infrastructure to help these kids reach the highest level,\u201d added Ricketts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s happening now, I know through the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Legacy Project that we\u2019re in partnership with the province. We\u2019re making 16 mini pitches across the Lower Mainland, so that\u2019s that\u2019s a big step is creating infrastructure where kids can now go and play unstructured soccer, similar to the ice rink.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3U6TCUPHAOQOZLQN7Z3XTYHSO4.jpg\")
Vancouver Whitecaps fans hold signs before the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Colorado Rapids in Vancouver, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Ethan Cairns Vancouver Whitecaps fans hold signs before the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Colorado Rapids in Vancouver, on Saturday, April 25, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Ethan Cairns Related Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Soccer fans say they\u2019re looking forward to seeing the sport grow in Canada, even with the men\u2019s team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[712,49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-784333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784333","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=784333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}