World Cup 2026

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Could bring? I disagree… the academy system could be much better, but Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal’s clubs will have to see the forest through the trees and leave the MLS for that to happen.

Look at the entire footballing world and you won’t find another league like the MLS… the MLS is the outlier. The sooner Canada leaves the MLS, the better!

The Whitecaps situation is on the backburner due to the world cup, but do they have a chance to remain in Vancouver?

[Coldrsx]

Sounds more and more like they are departing.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

The Whitecaps situation is on the backburner due to the world cup, but do they have a chance to remain in Vancouver?

Well they could certainly just sell their MLS franchise, but keep the branding, and keep the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club going as a member of the Canadian Premier League…

Would be quite a win-win too, if you ask me, sell the franchise for upwards of a billion or whatever, and keep the team around in Vancouver as part of the CPL.

I know some people in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal like having MLS clubs… but the rest of the footballing world still thinks the MLS is a joke (even post Messi).

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Sounds more and more like they are departing.

It sounds increasingly like they are staying, based on discussions in the last 2 months.

[SpongeG]

Vancouver has a second team that plays at a stadium in Langley, they set up a temporary space, I believe they plan to build a permanent space in the future they are called the VFC Vancouver Football Club and are part of the Canadian Premier League.

https://www.cplsoccer.com/vancouverfc

[BlackDog204]

BREAKING NEWS:

Alphonso Davies available for Canada's match vs. Qatar

[Calgarian]

Hope he's truly ready and not forcing it, he can be a game breaker.

[giallo]

My dad and brother are heading to the game today. I'm just a wee bit jealous.

[niwell]

Tonight's game should be wild!

Went to the Ghana/Panama game in Toronto last night. Amazing vibes despite the shitty weather and rain. We left our seats 25 mins in and found a spot to stand with good sightlines that was covered. The crowd seemed fairly evenly split - surprising as I expected it to be heavily Ghana-leaning. Didn't think there were many people here with Panamanian roots but Toronto never ceases to surprise me! However the Ghana fans were MUCH louder and the stadium went wild with the extra time goal.

Toronto (BMO) field was a great place to watch and my only complaints would be the price of beer!

[Coldrsx]

We've got a crew in Kelowna heading to a pub to catch it.

GO CANADA GO!

[Mister F]

MLS isn't going to be what makes Canada an elite soccer country, if such a thing is even possible. MLS is a US league formed specifically to advance US soccer. The fact that it expanded to Canada is incidental. It will always have the interests of US soccer as its priority. Canada is a junior partner at best. The same thing has been happening with the NHL for the last 30 years.

Canada really sells itself short by being content with, or even insisting on, being America's junior partner in sports leagues.

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

EVER? :|

It's the most popular participation sport in the country, and it's the most popular sport for the majority of the world's population. There's a direct correlation between increased international immigration to Canada and increased success for Canada men's national soccer team. Most of the best players on Team Canada were born outside of Canada.

If we continue to grow our population primarily through immigration, and especially if we see increased levels of immigration from soccer/football hotspots like North Africa, West Africa, and South America, I think it's not a question of if Canada will ever win a World Cup, but rather, when.

The argument about soccer being the most popular participation sport has been around since at least the 90s, probably earlier. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything when soccer isn't the sport that all those kids playing it are truly passionate about.

Canada winning a FIFA World Cup being a matter of when not if? Well I admire your optimism.

[logan5]

Anybody who has been around soccer long enough will tell you the reason Canada made the World Cup in 86 was because of the US focused NASL, but the teams in Canada cultivated some great players. The same thing is happening with MLS, except on a bigger scale now. Canada is producing a lot of great soccer players now. Canada is ranked 31 in the world.

[Hackslack]

Watching Canada dominate this game now.

Gotta say, admittedly I’m not much of a soccer fan, and I’m constantly reminded of that every time I see so much diving, and rolling around like they’ve been shot, all to sell the call, then get up and run away.

Regardless, cool to see Canada dominate.

If there is one single way this country becomes united, it’s centred around sporting events

[SpongeG]

yes 5-0!!! Thanks Qatar for the goal

[BlackDog204]

Canada 🇨🇦 is going through to the next round, regardless of what happens in the game against Switzerland. It's literally impossible for Bosnia and Qatar to catch us.

[SpongeG]

what was the scuffle at the end when they went to greet each other?

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

what was the scuffle at the end when they went to greet each other?

Sore losers.

[shappy]

The first red looked questionable but maybe I missed something? Kone with the broken leg was rough to see. Then David with the hat trick and tied with Messi for goals so far. Wild game.

[MolsonExport]

Wow, first ever world cup game win.

I'll never get over how Qatar (a country with only 313,000 citizens....yes there are 8 times that number of non-citizens) could be awarded the World Cup. It's like awarding the Summer Olympics to Barbados.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Wow, first ever world cup game win.

I'll never get over how Qatar (a country with only 313,000 citizens....yes there are 8 times that number of non-citizens) could be awarded the World Cup. It's like awarding the Summer Olympics to Barbados.

If Barbados was sitting on a sea of hydrocarbons ...