The contrast illuminated the stakes of this mega-event for Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the United States and, to a lesser extent, Mexico, have hogged the headlines, Canada is the only first-time host in 2026. Mexico is on its third World Cup; the USA on its second. But for Canada, the potential upside is far higher. For it is hoped this World Cup gives soccer the kind of boost the US got in 1994, and that Mexico doesn\u2019t really need anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cThis World Cup is our coming out party,\u201d said Tosaint Ricketts, a long-time Canada forward who now works for the Vancouver Whitecaps and was part of the hiring committee that installed Jesse Marsch as Canada manager. \u201cThe stakes are massive.\u201d<\/p>\n Toronto Stadium will host its final World Cup 2026 game on 2 July. Photograph: Megan Briggs\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The Canadian Soccer Association is emerging from decades of dysfunction. And after the men\u2019s team made it back to the World Cup in 2022, absent since their only other appearance in 1986, some tangible momentum is gathering \u2013 although it should be noted that the women\u2019s team won three straight Olympic medals from 2012 through 2020 and won gold at the last of those. \u201cThere\u2019s no secrets,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cOver the years, we\u2019ve gone through our fair bit of controversy, a little bit of lack of transparency, and changes within the organizational structure of Canada Soccer. But that is all behind us and now we\u2019re steady on the path of growth, the path of creating a foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n With the sport on firmer footing, the World Cup promises an inflection point that can finally help soccer take off in a nation in the thrall of hockey and, like the neighbors to the south, possessed of a vibrant sporting landscape that is no monoculture.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest opportunity is not just the five weeks hosting and participating in the tournament,\u201d says James Johnson, commissioner of the Canadian Premier League, the country\u2019s eight-team professional circuit currently in its eighth season (three other Canadian clubs play in MLS). \u201cIt\u2019s really in the legacy that the tournament leaves behind, which can be transformation for soccer in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as there once was in the US, a chasm gapes between the omnipresence of the sport and the elite end of the domestic game. \u201cOf course, people know soccer is not number one in Canada, but I\u2019m not sure people know that it\u2019s the most participated-in sport,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cThere\u2019s over a million participants across Canada. The next step is to get the corporations investing in the game, improve the infrastructure so these million participants have the facilities and resources to grow and get better. What the World Cup does is allow all of this progress to be sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n The hope is that the sponsors attracted by the World Cup will want to stay involved in the sport a few weeks from now, when the party is over. \u201cWe want to bring investment in,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cWe want to scale and we want to take advantage of the momentum the World Cup creates. We want to increase our marketing spend for the Canadian Premier League, to increase the playing time on the pitch and our clubs\u2019 infrastructures to develop better players. It requires investment. For us, it is really commercializing the sport and bringing in revenue and partners. It\u2019s positioning the sport in the mainstream and making sure when the World Cup comes and goes, people can still see soccer in Canada on billboards and on linear TV.\u201d<\/p>\n For all of that to happen, Canadian soccer could sure use the assistance of its men\u2019s team. Having already recorded their first-ever World Cup point, win, and run to the knockout rounds, Sunday\u2019s win over South Africa<\/a> in the last 32 saw to it that Les Rouges will stay in the national discourse for six more days, when they face the winner of Netherlands v Morocco. \u201cThe legacy for a sport is very heavily influenced by the performance of the national team,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cThe longer the host nation stays in the tournament, the deeper the connection new fans have with the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
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