World Cup 2026

[trueviking]

Canada missed J David more than Davies.

[MonctonRad]

Count me amongst those that would be in favour of a domestic Canadian soccer league.

The idea of playing outdoors in February is just daft. If this is the direction MLS is going, it's almost as if they are attempting to show Canada the door anyway.

Split the CPL into two divisions with 10 teams each and relegation. Bring in the Canadian MLS teams to the first division and I thing you would have a winning combination.

Lots of mid sized Canadian cities would like to have more sports options and a second tier CPL franchise (with an opportunity for promotion) would be very popular.

Moncton has a nice 10,000 seat soccer specific stadium mostly just sitting there waiting for something to come along. I'm sure other mid sized cities would also be interested in the opportunity.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Count me amongst those that would be in favour of a domestic Canadian soccer league.

The idea of playing outdoors in February is just daft. If this is the direction MLS is going, it's almost as if they are attempting to show Canada the door anyway.

Split the CPL into two divisions with 10 teams each and relegation. Bring in the Canadian MLS teams to the first division and I thing you would have a winning combination.

Lots of mid sized Canadian cities would like to have more sports options and a second tier CPL franchise (with an opportunity for promotion) would be very popular.

Moncton has a nice 10,000 seat soccer specific stadium mostly just sitting there waiting for something to come along. I'm sure othethasdddfdsafr mid sized cities would also be interested in the opportunity.

Why are people ignoring the economic realities of the situation? It would never fly. and even if by some miracle this occurs, how is the league going to attract quality players.

[Surrealplaces]

I'm all for a stronger domestic league. That said, athletes will always go to where the money is, and usually it's the stronger leagues. The MLS will always be a stronger league than a Canadian league simply due to population and money. If we lose the Canadian MLS teams, we will see a stronger Canadian league, but most likely the athletes playing in the MLS or Europe will look mostly the same as today.
The upside is that soccer is growing in Canada at the grass roots level, and we should see good development of players either way. In all my years of existence I've never seen so much interest in soccer as we have in the past 8 or 9 years.

I was around to see Canada in the 86 Cup (yes, I'm that old) There was almost no interest at all back then.

[thenoflyzone]

Some data is already out for Toronto. The outcome was predictable. I think Montreal did the right thing in showing the finger to FIFA.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/economic-impact-toronto-fifa-9.7258589

Toronto wraps up official FIFA hosting duties with little economic gain, data shows

…

Data from payment processing company Moneris between June 12 and 26 — the first two weeks of the World Cup in Toronto —showed that debit and credit card spending at restaurants and bars in the city rose by just three per cent compared with the same time last year.

Hotels in the city saw an increase in debit and credit card spending of 18 per cent during the first two weeks of World Cup action, compared with the same period in 2025

Pretty weak numbers, especially for the restaurant and bar spend. Meanwhile….

It said taxpayers in Toronto dished out $380 million to host six games

and that

It's estimated that Canada's 2026 World Cup hosting gig came with a price tag of $1.066 billion, according to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The idea of playing outdoors in February is just daft. .

The new format will have a midwinter break from mid-December to mid-February, and a limited number of games in late February, most of which should be away games for the cold climate teams.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-to-align-calendar-with-top-leagues-around-world

It’s not too bad. Besides, Montreal will have an indoor stadium to play at, once the Olympic stadium renovations are done. And let’s face it, Vancouver doesn’t really have a winter, plus BC place is pretty much an indoor stadium as well. Only Toronto will need to deal with the cold.

The MLS and Liga MX are the top soccer leagues on the continent. Our 3 biggest cities need to stay in those leagues, and not downgrade to the CPL.

[VANRIDERFAN]

I absolutely detest the reflex Canadian attitude that we need acceptance by others (mainly the United States) to validate our own endeavours. Hoping that a domestic league will die so that there can be one or two orphan cities in the dominate US league is 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 sad.
This directed mainly to Canadian NFL only fans.

[MonctonRad]

What we miss by hiving off our three largest markets and letting them join a foreign league (MLS) is a well constituted multi-tiered national league with opportunities for promotion and relegation. Such a system builds interest and enthusiasm across many cities in the country, with the hope that hard work and good management might create a Cinderella story for a local team.

Imagine a multi-tiered CPL with as many teams as the CHL. Every regional town and city would have their own team in the system. Wouldn't his create more interest and excitement nationwide than the current system? This is what happens in the UK. Look at what the Wrexham story has done for the game over there.

Right now Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are the sloppy seconds of the MLS, and, in turn, the existing CPL teams are considered the sloppy seconds to the Canadian MLS teams. And, finally, there are multiple mid sized Canadian markets with no hope of getting a professional soccer team at all.

We can do better.........

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

I'm all for a stronger domestic league. That said, athletes will always go to where the money is, and usually it's the stronger leagues. The MLS will always be a stronger league than a Canadian league simply due to population and money. If we lose the Canadian MLS teams, we will see a stronger Canadian league, but most likely the athletes playing in the MLS or Europe will look mostly the same as today.
The upside is that soccer is growing in Canada at the grass roots level, and we should see good development of players either way. In all my years of existence I've never seen so much interest in soccer as we have in the past 8 or 9 years.

I was around to see Canada in the 86 Cup (yes, I'm that old) There was almost no interest at all back then.

I am roughly the same age as you, and I agree that there was little interest in comparison to today, for the World Cup in 1986 when Canada qualifies for the first time.

Having said that, I disagree that soccer is some sort of new phenominem, that has only seen widespread popularity in the past decade. I still remember the interest in Canada's attempt to qualify for the World Cup in 1994, where we came up short.

In the lead up to USA 94, 55,000 people packed Commonwealth Stadium for a friendly against Brazil (we tied 1-1). The World Cup in 1994 was major news, and where I live, was constantly the main event on the sports scene.

Even the World Cups that Canada failed to qualify (1998-2018), there was great interest in, as TV ratings would reflect this. Obviously soccer is at it's all time peak in popularity today, but it has been popular since the days that TSN began broadcasting Preimer league games on Saturday mornings going back to 1992.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Some data is already out for Toronto. The outcome was predictable. I think Montreal did the right thing in showing the finger to FIFA.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/economic-impact-toronto-fifa-9.7258589



Pretty weak numbers, especially for the restaurant and bar spend. Meanwhile….

and that

This has been known for quite some time. Sporting events like the Olympics and World Cups often leave the host cities in the red. Nations began wising up to this fact over a decade ago. This is why there is now little interest and far fewer bids for the Olympics and World Cup events.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

That's a problem I've long been frustrated by. I have to wonder though, how many other countries with a similar population have purely domestic leagues that its population views as equal or superior to foreign leagues?

The thing is, in soccer this question doesn't really even matter. MLS itself isn't equal or superior to other foreign leagues. So having a couple teams in the MLS is a pretty weak aspiration in the first place. At least with basketball or baseball you can make the argument that we have a team in the best league in the world but that argument doesn't work in soccer.

And ultimately whether we have a league that's as good as its neighbours shouldn't matter. Something tells me that if you suggested that the top Swiss teams should join the Italian or French leagues because they're better than the Swiss league you wouldn't get the most enthusiastic response.

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

The MLS and Liga MX are the top soccer leagues on the continent. Our 3 biggest cities need to stay in those leagues, and not downgrade to the CPL.

If that's what we need then I have some bad news for you - it probably won't be long before we fail to meet even that very low bar. Montreal and Vancouver have the two least valuable teams in the MLS. It's probably only a matter of time before they move to cities like Detroit or Vegas. So we're going to end up with one token team in a foreign league that is at best indifferent to it. That's not an upgrade over having our own system.

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

I absolutely detest the reflex Canadian attitude that we need acceptance by others (mainly the United States) to validate our own endeavours. Hoping that a domestic league will die so that there can be one or two orphan cities in the dominate US league is 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 sad.
This directed mainly to Canadian NFL only fans.

I agree. If the MLS was more pro-Canada and had implemented or was trying to implement more Canadian teams (adding Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa would probably be enough), the CPL wouldn’t exist and we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. The CPL still has a long way to go, but I think it will ultimately become the dominant league in our country, especially given that it came along with the infrastructure that has since re-organized our lower-division leagues nationally. The MLS has been around for 30 years and the CPL has only been around for 7, we just need to give it time.

Another potential nail in the coffin for the MLS in Canada will be USL Premier, if it gets established in 2028. It will be a direct Tier 1 competitor to the MLS in the US with pro/rel, and it is specifically targeting the big non-MLS cities. USL clubs in Pittsburgh, Louisville, Jacksonville, and Raleigh have confirmed to have signed on, with the USL clubs in Detroit, Sacramento, Birmingham, and Oakland expected to join too. We may ultimately see a larger effort to establish MLS teams in some of these cities (specifically former MLS expansion candidates like Detroit, Sacramento, Raleigh, and Louisville) to damage the upstart league. Given that the MLS currently only wants to go as high as 32, and that those two slots will most likely go to either Las Vegas, Indianapolis, or Phoenix, removing the Canadian teams would allow all expansion markets to gain teams and take out the biggest USL Premier markets (hypothetical Phoenix and Indianapolis expansions, with Vancouver being removed for Las Vegas, plus Toronto removed for Detroit and Montreal removed for Raleigh).

[Nite]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Count me amongst those that would be in favour of a domestic Canadian soccer league.

The idea of playing outdoors in February is just daft. If this is the direction MLS is going, it's almost as if they are attempting to show Canada the door anyway.

Split the CPL into two divisions with 10 teams each and relegation. Bring in the Canadian MLS teams to the first division and I thing you would have a winning combination.

Lots of mid sized Canadian cities would like to have more sports options and a second tier CPL franchise (with an opportunity for promotion) would be very popular.

Moncton has a nice 10,000 seat soccer specific stadium mostly just sitting there waiting for something to come along. I'm sure other mid sized cities would also be interested in the opportunity.

Both the MLS and CONCACAF Champions Cup/League already start in February.
The CPL already exist with teams already in Toronto and Metro Vancouver and Montreal, so why would moving the MLS make a difference.
Nothing is preventing the CPL from expanding all across the country already

As i said before the 3 MLS teams spend millions on player development which will be lost if they ever moved into the CPL.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

I agree. If the MLS was more pro-Canada and had implemented or was trying to implement more Canadian teams (adding Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa would probably be enough), the CPL wouldn’t exist and we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.

The MLS has 3 teams in Canada. The league has 30 teams, which is to be expected. The MLB and NBA only have one Canadian team. Only in the NHL are there more Canadian pro teams (for obvious reasons). I'd love to see Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa be awarded MLS teams, but acting like it's some kind of anti-Canada conspiracy that there are not more Canadian clubs is ridiculous.

Another potential nail in the coffin for the MLS in Canada will be USL Premier, if it gets established in 2028. It will be a direct Tier 1 competitor to the MLS in the US with pro/rel, and it is specifically targeting the big non-MLS cities. USL clubs in Pittsburgh, Louisville, Jacksonville, and Raleigh have confirmed to have signed on, with the USL clubs in Detroit, Sacramento, Birmingham, and Oakland expected to join too. We may ultimately see a larger effort to establish MLS teams in some of these cities (specifically former MLS expansion candidates like Detroit, Sacramento, Raleigh, and Louisville) to damage the upstart league. Given that the MLS currently only wants to go as high as 32, and that those two slots will most likely go to either Las Vegas, Indianapolis, or Phoenix, removing the Canadian teams would allow all expansion markets to gain teams and take out the biggest USL Premier markets (hypothetical Phoenix and Indianapolis expansions, with Vancouver being removed for Las Vegas, plus Toronto removed for Detroit and Montreal removed for Raleigh).

History suggests the league will fold. Aside from baseball, where the NL and AL have existed for over 100 years, all rival leagues have either folded or been absorbed into the big 4 (or 5 if you include the MLS). The WHA, ABA, and AFL were the only leagues to merge with the most established leagues, and that has not happened in nearly 50 years when professional sports were not the billion dollar business it is today.

It's literally impossible to succeed in today's business climate as a rival promotion, where the value of sports franchises are on average worth over one billion. Even in the MLS, I believe the value of teams is over $500 million. The WHA even had to go to court in the 70s, to get off the ground against the NHL.

[BlackDog204]

It's just been announced that the White House directly appealed to FIFA in regards to the red card issued to American star player Folarin Balogun. It has been rescinded, and he will play against Belgium tomorrow.

I'm going out on a limb, and predicting a lot of strange calls and disallowed goals going against Belgium tomorrow.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

It's just been announced that the White House directly appealed to FIFA in regards to the red card issued to American star player Folarin Balogun. It has been rescinded, and he will play against Belgium tomorrow.

I'm going out on a limb, and predicting a lot of strange calls and disallowed goals going against Belgium tomorrow.

FIFA is just as corrupt as Trump’s administration. So glad we handed over almost a billion of taxpayer money to stage their games.

[Chocolite]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Some data is already out for Toronto. The outcome was predictable. I think Montreal did the right thing in showing the finger to FIFA.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/economic-impact-toronto-fifa-9.7258589



Pretty weak numbers, especially for the restaurant and bar spend. Meanwhile….

IIRC Vancouver's portion was something like $760 Million.
Economic numbers for sporting events rarely ever pay off immediately on paper, but there are always intangibles that are hard to capture. I'm not saying those intangibles will materialize, but it's hard to capture and it doesn't happen overnight.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Chocolite

IIRC Vancouver's portion was something like $760 Million.
Economic numbers for sporting events rarely ever pay off immediately on paper, but there are always intangibles that are hard to capture. I'm not saying those intangibles will materialize, but it's hard to capture and it doesn't happen overnight.

Oh god, not the old “but now we’re world class right mommy? Now we’re on the map” argument! The world knows about Toronto and Vancouver they don’t need a few FIFA games to convince them to vacation here.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Haaland is a freak of nature. Norway remains undefeated at the World Cup against five time World Cup Champions, Brazil.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

The World Cup 2026 fully leaves Canada and Mexico after tomorrow’s matches.

Au Revoir, Adios!