Canada, United States, and Mexico are often caught in NAFTA headlines but the countries will work together to host the 2026 World Cup.
The Canadian portion will be 10 early round games in Edmonton, Toronto, and Montréal. The sites will be Commonwealth Stadium (Edmonton); BMO Field (Toronto); and Olympic Stadium (Montréal).
The 10 games would be early in the soccer tournament but the 10 allotted games and the sites are not guaranteed. The FIFA council makes those calls on number of games as well as sites.
The United States is scheduled to host 60 games; Mexico is down for 10 games.
When Canada hosted the 2015 Women's World Cup, one major concern was forcing the women to play on artificial turf. The men were supposed to be too good to play on turf. BMO Field has grass while Commonwealth Stadium has had field turf since 2010. The Olympic Stadium turf isn't even close to field turf. FIFA put in artificial turf for the women's 2015 World Cup, including a grass field in Moncton. Olympic Stadium may get a temporary grass field inside the dome.
Home of the 2015 Women's World Cup final, Vancouver didn't put in a bid for the 2026 World Cup. FIFA excessive demands and cost uncertainties were cited by Vancouver and Chicago in refusing to participate in the 2026 World Cup bid.
Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montréal, and Moncton were the host cities for the 2015 Women's World Cup.
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Part of the charm is that normally the host country automatically qualifies. Canada has only qualified in the men's World Cup in 1986. So if Canada gets an automatic berth, that will improve the chances of casual Canadians carrying more about the World Cup.
The beauty of cohesive immigration is that Canada cares about the World Cup often because of the country of their origin or family's origin. Will Canada care more once the World Cup is on Canadian soil will be an exercise that is a mere 8 years away.
photo credit: 2026 World Cup/FIFA
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