2026 FIFA World Cup
 

Considering we are 5 years away from hosting the most iconic soccer tournament in history, that being the FIFA World Cup, in 2026, all be it we have to share hosting duties with Mexico and the United States I wonder just which one of y'all is as excited as I am?

Plus it is not like your ordinary World Cup of 32 countries, it is the first time we're getting 48 teams/countries in

Considering the only 3 Canadian cities that will host games in the 2026 FIFA World Cup are Toronto (BMO Field), Montreal (Olympic Stadium) and Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium) I wonder if any of y'all will go to any of the games?

I'm saving up for it! I hope to attend a couple of Canada games (assuming they will get an automatic bye). I'm also Ukrainian and Belgian, so any chance to see one of those countries would be a highlight for me (assuming they make the WC).

I am sure Ukraine and Belgium will have a very good chance of being there seeing as how it is 48 countries I and Canada being a host nation they automatically qualify. Canada will no doubt have home advantage just like the USA and Mexico will as co hosts in their respective countries. I definitely will be saving up too to watch games because I know to watch World Cup games here in our backyard will be a fortune.

It's been overlooked here but yesterday it was announced that Montreal was withdrawing as a candidate city for hosting 2026 World Cup games.

This really sucks as I was hoping to attend some games, but I can't say that I am that surprised.

The Canadian presence in this joint World Cup is shrinking steadily...

I am hopeful that Edmonton/Alberta will continue with its push to be a host city, but it rests in the hands of our Premier and that worries me a little.

That said, they have released a new initiative : 'The 10-Year Tourism Strategy will support the development and sustainability of the province’s tourism industry and lay the foundation to help grow tourism revenue to $20 billion by 2030.'

This would go a long way towards that.

I'm assuming that Edmonton is probably a safe bet at this point. I think there will be some pressure to keep the remaining two Canadian cities because otherwise it becomes a national embarrassment if it drops down to one or even none. It helps that Edmonton has a venue that does not need major upgrades (you have to applaud Edmonton's incredible foresight to build Commonwealth Stadium, a venue that keeps on delivering).

I would agree, but given our Provincial finances I do worry.

I'd hope that extra resources are thrown at the West Valley Line LRT and Capital Line South to have both complete prior to the event.

Downtown could also use another new/contemporary hotel (or three) as our hotel stock is quite dated and probably the least impressive part of our bid.

The hotel issue was one of the major reasons why Winnipeg didn't submit a bid...

Quebec pulling the plug on this seems shortsighted.

I agree. I think if there's no pandemic, this definitely goes ahead. But it's also a convenient excuse.

Thank god for the JW's entrance.

Montreal never made a ton of sense given the funds needed to rehabilitate Olympic and lack of alternative options. Not surprising Quebec bailed on the idea.

Either add more games to Edmonton/Toronto or just withdraw from hosting entirely. Always been a US plus friends host bid anyway.

Dare I still mention Vancouver ought to be one of the host cities for this...

They passed and that would hurt/impact Edmonton's bid.

I thought the World Cup was going to be the pretext for Quebec to sink a pile of money into modernizing Olympic Stadium. Since that is unlikely to happen now, I wonder what that means for the Big O?

I wonder if the roof of Olympic Stadium will still be replaced by 2024?

Do nothing other than the absolute minimum, pretty much.

Olympic Stadium must now be in that awkward state where no one wants to tear it down because of the immense cost, but as it approaches its 50th birthday it is probably starting to become functionally obsolete. Seeing that there hasn't been a full time sports tenant in there for 15 years, I wonder if things like media/broadcasting facilities have been kept up to date?

It basically is a venue that allows Montreal to host large events somewhat infrequently.

If they rip it down, people will campaign for a new stadium. The rallying cry will be: "A city the size of Montreal needs a large stadium!"

As it sits, it allows Montreal to keep that check box ticked without spending much money. For the handful of times per year it gets used the fact that it's functionally obsolete isn't a big obstacle.

FIFA 2026's potential revenue most certainly wouldn't have paid for the upgrade costs. The political upside is minimal too, as the Big O would only get some of the lesser games anyway. It's not like the finals would be in Montreal.