FIFA World Cup: What could 2026 mean for Toronto?
By Nick McAdam
Exposure of Canadian Football
It’s not a coincidence that FIFA decides to pick nations on occasion that aren’t as big in the world of football. They do it for the sole reason of promoting the game in a certain area, which is exactly what it could do in Canada.
What Brian Goff talks about in his 2014 article in Forbes, for example, shows the demand for football growing around the time of the World Cup. Goff goes on to write:
"Youth soccer participation has increased their knowledge of the sport enough to understand what is happening."
More children inspired from the World Cup could hopefully progress the development of youth academies across the nation. It also brings more exposure to the rest of the world as to what Canadian football has to offer for everybody involved, which Goff notes:
"They have plucked the “low-hanging fruit” in the form of hardcore soccer fans. Now, to continue to grow rather than plateau, the league will need to begin to pull fans from the other established leagues. That’s where soccer in the rest of the world retains such a favorable position."
If Canada automatically qualify for the World Cup that year, it will only help continue to grow the game in the North. The sense of “Canada against the world” will grow within grounds right in the reach of local neighborhoods and cities.
It will hopefully install a sense of hope for the present and the future of the Canadian game. More understanding of the sport can help put football on the map in Canada, which is hopefully what the FIFA World Cup will do in 2026.
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What are your complete thoughts on what the FIFA World Cup can do for Canada in general and Toronto specifically in 2026? Let us know in the comments section below.