World Cup in Canada? Yes, please
Co-hosting biggest sporting event on Earth would give soccer the domestic kick it needs
Given its track record, it’s quite possible FIFA will study the no-brainer bid from North America, look at a competing bid from, say Morocco, and determine: “You know, Rabat really is beautiful in the summer.”
But let’s, for the moment, suspend our sense of cynicism with the boys from Zurich. Let’s assume the overwhelming weight of the entry from the United States, Canada and Mexico to host the 2026 World Cup will speak for itself.
And let’s assume some things are so painfully obvious, there’s really only one choice.
Let’s assume all those things because this week’s announcement that FIFA will fast-track the North American bid carries staggering implications for the game in Canada.
True, it’s full impact won’t be known for another 20 years or so, but in the here and now, everyone connected with Canadian soccer understands they have been presented with a generational opportunity to grow their game.
It’s one that could forever change soccer in this country.
That might sound like hyperbole. But, when you take out the wide-angle lens and look at the big picture, it actually understates the point.
“Listen, I mean it’s massive,” said CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani over the phone from Bahrain, where FIFA met this week.
“It’s the biggest and greatest sporting event in the world and it’s a great platform for our country. We’re all excited about it. The feeling is, ‘Let’s go.’”
A world away, Bob Lenarduzzi has a slightly different feeling brought on by a slightly different perspective.
“I never thought it would take this long, no one did,” said Lenarduzzi, a member of the last Canadian men’s team to qualify for the World Cup in 1986. “Forty years (between ’86 and 2026). That can’t be. I’m going to be 71 when it rolls around (in 2026). I better hang on for this one.”
There are a lot of Canadian soccer folk who feel the same way.
While acknowledging the FIFA factor could still send this in a couple different directions, it seems inevitable the 2026 World Cup will land in North America. There are a number of reasons for this: the event was last held in the U.S. in 1994 and still holds the World Cup attendance record; there’s a wide selection of existing venues in all three countries which meet FIFA’s specs; and no one, with the possible exception of Morocco, seems interested in a competing bid.
That final decision, moreover, could come down as early as August if no other bid emerges, and no later than June 2018.
Again, there are a number of global storylines tied up with this bid and it all seems like a formality.
For Canadians, this bid opens an exciting new world to the game’s gatekeepers. Where to begin? For starters, the host nation status should guarantee Canada’s entry into the 48-team field. We say “should” because, historically, all host countries have automatically qualified for the tournament. This, however, is the first time three countries have submitted a bid and Canada’s status would be decided by FIFA.
I know. What could possibly go wrong there?
But let’s plow ahead under the premise Canada gains an automatic berth. Think of what this means for this upcoming generation of players in our country. Think of what it means for the Whitecaps’ Alphonso Davies, the 16-year-old phenom who will be 25 in 2026.
Hell, think of what it means for a 12-year-old kid who’s running around a pitch in Coquitlam or Sherwood Park or Oakville.
“It gives them a North Star,” says Montagliani, a Vancouverite.
Then there’s the matter of host cities. According to the bid, the U.S. will host 60 of the 80 tournament games, with 10 each going to Canada and Mexico. Vancouver would almost certainly be granted at least one game and the potential is there for more.
Before you ask, the turf would be replaced at B.C. Place Stadium by a natural grass field and it’s likely Canada would play its games on home soil. Yes, it means inviting those blue-jacketed dweebs from FIFA back to our city but, for a couple of World Cup games, we can tolerate their presence.
“We have eight years to plan for it,” said Montagliani of the turf issue. “I don’t see a problem.”
Finally, the World Cup tournament comes with an eight-year runway which features test events, friendlies, pre-tournament tournaments and assorted other soccer-oriented ephemera.
In 2017, the game still occupies an outsiders’ place in the country’s sporting consciousness. In the runup to 2026 it would move to the centre of the Canadian sports stage.
“It’s a great opportunity to establish momentum,” Montagliani said.
For now and for so many years to come.