Toronto/Vancouver – As the controversy continues to swirl around the Canadian factor in the United bid for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, some of the blocks are slowly falling into place.
Toronto (BMO Field) has been named as a candidate host city as part of the United 2026 bid to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup™ in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Earlier this week, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, announced the Government of Canada’s support-in-principle for United 2026.
However, hot on the heels of the Province of BC pulling away from the Canadian portion of the bid (re BC Place in Vancouver) citing FIFA requests for a literal blank cheque to cover costs ranging from security to a temporary grass field at BC Place to other costs, Chicago, Minneapolis and the Province of Alberta have also withdrawn their support.
This puts Edmonton’s bid (Commonwealth Stadium) for preliminary games, up in the air. The City would like to participate but the province won’t spend any more money as they have the same concerns as other cities. Chicago is an an embarrassment for the Americans as that city is also the HQ for the US Soccer Federation.
While Canada has never hosted the FIFA World Cup™ for men, it has successfully hosted other FIFA competitions at different levels, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ (BC Place in Vancouver). This record-setting tournament was held in six cities and provinces from coast to coast across the country. The 1.35 million spectators who attended the newly expanded 24-team competition were responsible for an economic impact of nearly half a billion dollars.
The soccer governing bodies for Canada, Mexico and the United States jointly announced on April 10, 2017, that they would pursue a bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™.
On June 13, 2018, FIFA will announce if United 2026, Morocco, or neither bidder will host the 2026 FIFA World CupTM.
