Local excitement building for Toronto’s FIFA World Cup moment

By ALAN SHACKLETON

Local soccer players, coaches, parents and fans are ready and excited for the FIFA World Cup to begin!

For the first time ever, Canada is hosting World Cup games as the 2026 tournament is taking place in our country, Mexico and the United States. The Canadian team plays its first World Cup game in Toronto this Friday, June 12, against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the anticipation is building.

During visits last week by Beach Metro Community News to the Cherry Beach Soccer Club and Beach Community Soccer League, it was clear there’s lots of excitement for this year’s World Cup.

“It’s always fun to watch and all the different communities come alive in Toronto, and that’s lots of fun. It will be a bit different situation with Italy not being there as that was always big in the city,” said Alex Karney who is one of the coaches of the Beach Metro Community News team that plays in the Beach Community Soccer League’s Under-4 division.

“It will be lots of excitement in the city, just like it was when the Jays were in the World Series. Everyone will be talking about it,” he said.

Devon and Michelle are the parents of Beach Metro team player Matthias, 4, who was a baby when Canada was in the World Cup in Qatar in the fall of 2022.

They said they are both big fans of Canadian player Alphonso Davies, and are hoping he will be recovered enough from a recent injury to play in some of Canada’s games during this World Cup.

“We’re big Alphonso Davies fans and hopefully he can play,” said Michelle.

“We’re excited for it,” said Devon of the World Cup. “It’s great for the city and it’s going to be interesting to see it up close.”

Similar excitement among players and parents was shared by members of the Cherry Beach Soccer Club last week at Monarch Park.

Youngsters Noah, Beckett and Harrison are members of one the club’s Under-10 boys house league teams, and the team they are on is representing Argentina for this season. They were unanimous in saying they thought Argentina, the champions in 2022, would be the winners of this year’s World Cup.

All three are excited that games are being played in Toronto, and Beckett will actually be going with his family to the Group L match between Panama and Ghana in Toronto on June 17.

Beckett’s mom Laura felt it was so special to be able to have a chance to attend a World Cup game in their own city that they decided they were not going to miss the opportunity. “We’re pretty excited about that. I think Beckett is really excited about it. He was so excited that he fell down on the ground when we told him we were going. We feel it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with it here in Toronto,” she said.

Laura added that from what she can see among her son and his friends, “the kids are very into” this year’s World Cup. She said her son’s friends seem to cheering for Argentina and Portugal in this World Cup.

“Hopefully Canada does well and it’s just exciting that we are here,” said Laura.

Along with Canada versus Bosnia and Herzegovina this Friday, and the June 17 match between Panama and Ghana, other World Cup games being played in Toronto are Germany and Cote d’Ivoire on June 20; Panama and Croatia on June 23; Senegal and Iraq on June 26; and a knock-out second round game on July 2 featuring two teams yet to be determined.

There are 48 teams in this year’s World Cup, broken into 12 groups of four for the tourney’s first round. After that, 32 teams move on to knock out rounds depending on how they do in group play.

Along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, other teams in Group B with Canada are Switzerland and Qatar. After the tournament opener in Toronto, Canada’s other two group games will be in Vancouver on June 18 and 24.

The general feeling is that Canada should advance out the group stage and into the Round of 32. And that would be an historic result for Canada considering we have only played in two World Cups ever (1986 and 2022) and have not yet won or tied a game.

Ian Buckingham, Technical Director for the Cherry Beach Soccer Club, spoke with Beach Metro Community News last week at a Monarch Park field filled with soccer players of varying ages playing the game.

He said he’s quite optimistic of Canada’s chances to advance not only out of the group stage but even into the Round of 16 if they can catch a break.

“I’m confident they’re going to the last 16. We’ll give them the group and a friendly draw in the first knockout could get them there. Beyond that would be a bit of a stretch, but I’m looking forward to seeing them do well,” said Buckingham who is originally from West London, England.

Expectations for Canada’s showing are a bit more tempered from Beacher Les Jones who said the squad is facing some serious challenges due to the number of injured or recently injured players.

He’s concerned the return of these players right back into the full-speed competition of a World Cup game might be too much for them.

“Our five best players are injured for these matches,” said Jones of the Group B games. “And we just lost (Marcello) Flores, and he was going to be a creative piece for us.”

(Flores seriously injured his knee on Saturday, May 30, during a game with his club team in Mexico played the day after he was named to Canada’s World Cup team, and he has now been ruled out for the World Cup.)

Still, Jones said Canada should in theory advance out the group stage given we are currently ranked 30th in the world according to the April FIFA rankings, while Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked 64th, Qatar is ranked 55th, and Switzerland is ranked 19th.

“So we should be able to go through,” he said. “But with the injuries we have six key guys who just won’t be fit enough and match ready. I’ve said this is our golden generation of players, but right now they are not at their peak.”

Jones has had decades of experience with Canadian soccer and was at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and watched the Canadian team play there.

He was a photographer for the Canadian Soccer Association for decades and also created the book Soccer: Canada’s National Sport. Jones has also been a director with the Robbie International Soccer Tournament that has been taking place in Scarborough for more than 55 years, and served as the chair of The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum in Vaughan.

However, he said won’t be personally attending any of this year’s World Cup games in Toronto or Vancouver.

Having been a photographer on the sidelines right by the action, he said the idea of being in the stands at the ticket prices being charged by FIFA was not appealing to him. Instead, he’ll be at Fan Fest at Fort York taking photos as he expects those will be fun and colourful events.

“To me the reaction (to the World Cup in Toronto) has been a little subdued, and people are very upset about the ticket prices and FIFA has not handled that well,” said Jones.

Buckingham agreed the tickets are being priced too high for games. “I think they’ve taken the game away from the fans. It should be affordable for families to attend at a fair price,” he said.

However, he said the atmosphere and excitement in Toronto can only be expected to ramp up once the matches start being played.

“I think there’s going to be a great atmosphere in the city,” said Buckingham.

Beach resident Dave Kelly, Director of Soccer for the newly formed Toronto East End FC said he’s “delighted and excited” that Canada is hosting World Cup games.

“It’s so special and exciting and really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all of us,” he said.

This is Toronto East End FC’s first year and the club’s focus is on creating a love of the game of soccer for local children ages three to seven.

Kelly brings a wealth of soccer experience to his role with the club. He grew up in Lancashire, England and played the game at a high level before getting into coaching and player development with a number of professional teams including Blackpool FC.

He and his wife have lived in the Beach area for the past seven years. While in Canada, Kelly has worked at the highest levels with both Ontario Soccer and Soccer Canada.

“I’m hoping to see many more kids across the country and in our neighbourhood, with a ball at their feet,” said Kelly of the impacts of hosting World Cup games in Toronto. “I also would love to see the city and the country come together as they have for the Raptors and Jays, and for the positive impact for local business with people gathering to watch the games.”

Kelly is also hoping one of the legacies of having World Cup games in Toronto will be an increase in the number and quality of soccer facilities in the city.

“I also hope to see the development of more and better maintained grass fields in the local area as a result as well as better indoor facilities in our neighbourhood,” he said. “Soccer is the sport with the most participation across the whole country now, so it would be fantastic to see the number of facilities grow with the demand and come in line with some of the incredible hockey facilities we have across the city.”