2026 World Cup - News, Updates and discussions

[Joe MacCarthy]

1 minute ago, CanadianTraveller said:

...in one ear, and out the other. Nobody is talking about replacing Commonwealth w/o 10 drinks in him/her/they. Award for "fake news" of the day. Would be nice if/when Edmonton gets a soccer-specific 10K seat facility, but private money & good location might never happen, certainly nothing imminent. Yes Joe - heard here first, last, and only. 😆

And FWIW, having been in all 4 Prairie stadia in the last 2.5 years, I'll take Commonweath in a close race, with the obvious caveat of being track-separated from the field for the poor folks stuck in Row 3. Concessions, accessibility, upper-deck sightlines (seat-for-seat - last row @ IG = third row of upper deck in Commonwealth) are better in Edmonton. Like the (slight) weather protection and acoustics in Winnipeg, respect the Pils section @ Mosaic vs. End Zone party. Washrooms @ Commonwealth definitely could use an upgrade - were barely touched in 2008 or 2015. And the back-of-the-house is definitely 40 years old, except the main dressing room. Three are facilities the locals can be proud of. All could be better, but...$$$$$

And since my home stadium is the Rose Bowl, I certainly have a love/hate relationship. Love all the things that make it a classic, hate all of the classic elements including the bowl (esp. when you get to benches @ the goallines) and getting into the Arroyo. SoFi just reinforces what the Rose Bowl can never be...and should never want to be. Plus there's no better grass field in the Northern Hemisphere than the Rose Bowl on Jan 1.

P.S. Commonwealth was ranked 5th out of the bid cities. Edmonton not-so-much, but the stadium is a plus for the bid.

<Sarcasm mode on>Yeah but it's 50 years old and people in Edmonton are "talking" about replacing it"<Sarcasm mode off>

[king1010]

For 50 years old, commonwealth has aged so gracefully. Still looks great in my opinion. Its design will never look dated. 

[Joe MacCarthy]

1 minute ago, king1010 said:

For 50 years old, commonwealth has aged so gracefully. Still looks great in my opinion. Its design will never look dated. 

This is for you, video is cued

Merlin Olsen: "Dick (Enberg) I gotta tell ya, I've never seen a more beautiful stadium or more beautiful playing surface, anywhere."

 

[CanadianTraveller]

Commonwealth has aged, and if tickets were $450 USD instead of $25 CAD we'd be screaming for something better. But in the early 80's this stadium was as good as Arrowhead (Kansas City) and better than the old Mile High. So starting near/at the top, plus extensive renos for 2001 Worlds and reno'd again for FIFA means it's doing OK in many ways. As the WC2026 folks recognized.

To think we could have had a roof for a couple million in '78...although we probably would have lost the grass. I'll take 30 years of grass over a roof...but then I sit under the overhang.

[PunjabiOil]

An update

https://edmontonsun.com/sports/soccer/jones-peter-montopoli-takes-charge-of-fifa-world-cup-in-canada?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1636996843

 

“Right now, it’s Edmonton and Toronto that are candidate cities vying to be FIFA 2026 host cities.”

If Edmonton and Toronto are approved Montopoli said he’d expect they’d both be awarded five games

 

 

[red card]

Edmonton's pitch video for FIFA visit.

 

[dyslexic nam]

I get that there some morons running across the pitch in game one but the game last night has to be a big boost for Edmonton’s campaign.  In weather that made testicles retreat into body cavities, there was a massive crowd that showed a level of support that was amazing.  If that can happen in November, imagine what it would be like mid-summer.  

And I already called my friend’s couch for 2026.  

[TGAA_Star]

Summer 2026 let's just say Canada will be the place to be

[CanadianTraveller]

Not to be a doubter of my own city, who I believe long ago demonstrated and earned selection to host WC2026, but....

1. I doubt FIFA cares how many Edmontonians attended in this window, certainly not that they came out in November. WC won't be hosted in November. It is a good symbol for the support the city may show its visitors when it hosts. And if the CSA has indicated that Edmonton will host Canada in the opening match, maybe this window helps a bit. But FIFA knows that the stadium will be full, largely with people traveling to the city. The $20 ticket certainly won't convince anyone that Edmontonians can afford to attend a WC match. (Top price was $90, which might get you a seat in Row 82 in section AA in '26...and would almost certainly be the cheapest ticket outside Mexico.)

2. There was some excitement in Edmonton, but not necessarily in key locations like hotels, restaurants, bars, and the downtown area. While it's easy to explain away with COVID and the weather and the downtown construction, it's a missed opportunity to impress. Hopefully the excitement of the crowd is a proxy for how the city would setup during WC2026, even with neutral teams present. WWC15 had some community-level activity, though again not as much in hospitality locations. After accommodation (a clear weakness for Edmonton), hospitality is an important non-technical factor when selecting hosts, particularly if a team (and its followers) stay in Edmonton for two straight weeks.

3.  Pitch doesn't help, despite telling the evaluation folks 270 times that it will be a grass surface first used by FIFA and not touched by the Elks. (Will the Elks move training camp to Spruce Grove as they did in 2015?) Hopefully no one asks how well fresh sod sets and grows in May in Edmonton, with frost always a possibility. Maybe grow lights will help, certainly weren't used the last time Commonwealth had grass. Our BMO Field friends might have some advice on cold weather maintenance?

4. Transportation was a mess, in part due to construction of the new Stadium station platform. Hopefully the city can explain how our Park & Ride transit might be repurposed to serve hotels or key locations, the way it serves residents for these games.

5. Pitch invaders - plural - leaves a bad stain, difficult to explain away with "staffing challenges across all sectors in 2021". 

There were numerous positives, such as the stadium atmosphere, the diversity of attendees, the (reasonable) wait times to enter the Stadium despite COVID (but replace vax checks w/ metal detectors in '26, and perhaps ID match w/ ticket buyer name). Hopefully CR and MX can confirm that they did not hear any fire alarms ringing at their hotel. And since there's no competition to host in Canada, I'd be shocked that Edmonton was deselected. 

I'd suggest the proposed training pitches were far more significant during inspection than anything we saw in-stadium this week. FWIW - not a strength for Edmonton in 2015, but they worked. I don't recall any complaints from the teams, just concerns in advance including travel times.

[narduch]

Vancouver is out for sure.

 

[TGAA_Star]

13 minutes ago, narduch said:

Vancouver is out for sure.

 

So it looks like only Edmonton and Toronto since Infantino and company were in town

[Mattd97]

Shame Vancouver is out, beautiful city on the global stage.

[Aird25]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

Vancouver is out for sure.

 

Any chance we lose our spot as a host country?

[narduch]

Just now, Aird25 said:

Any chance we lose our spot as a host country?

I don't think so.

However I'm still not convinced Canada and Mexico will auto qualify 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

 

 

 

[nfitz]

2 hours ago, Mattd97 said:

Shame Vancouver is out, beautiful city on the global stage.

It is ... though with only two cities hosting, it will avoid the angst about which city won't host a Canada game.

[boris4c]

1 hour ago, nfitz said:

It is ... though with only two cities hosting, it will avoid the angst about which city won't host a Canada game.

Hmm. There are three matches in the group stage, so even if Vancouver was in, all of them could host one game (even though that probably wouldn't be in the team's best interests). 

[Cblake]

5 minutes ago, boris4c said:

Hmm. There are three matches in the group stage, so even if Vancouver was in, all of them could host one game (even though that probably wouldn't be in the team's best interests). 

There two group stage matches, its three team groups in 2026. 

[jonovision]

3 hours ago, narduch said:

I don't think so.

However I'm still not convinced Canada and Mexico will auto qualify 

Tbh, and especially if we're going to a 48 team WC finals with 5 or 6 CONCACAF teams, I'd prefer not to auto-qualify.

[kacbru]

2 hours ago, jonovision said:

Tbh, and especially if we're going to a 48 team WC finals with 5 or 6 CONCACAF teams, I'd prefer not to auto-qualify.

Agreed. The Ocho has been amazing. More ocho, more ocho, more ocho! 

[TGAA_Star]

I would rather auto qualify myself and why? Makes our lives easier of not having to qualify for our own World Cup and we can actually better prepare by setting up friendlies against other nations 

[MM3/MM2/MM]

I always prefer competitive matches to friendlies.

[boris4c]

9 hours ago, Cblake said:

There two group stage matches, its three team groups in 2026. 

Completely forgot about that. Hopefully FIFA will consider changing the format (which is under heavy criticism). I would very much prefer the format that has been used for tournaments with 24 teams, i.e. top two advance and a few of the best third-place teams advance. Although that would add a lot of matches which presumably the players' associations are against. 

[Kent]

Article about FIFA's visit to Toronto. Not really any news in here though that people on this board don't already know. It was nice to get a reminder that the target capacity for BMO is over 45,000.

https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2021/11/toronto-potential-fifa-world-cup-2026-host/

[CanadaFan123]

10 hours ago, Cblake said:

There two group stage matches, its three team groups in 2026. 

Such a joke .. never mind the fact that a two game tournament is ridiculous, 3 team groups will mean an unbalanced schedule with the team that plays on MD 1 & 3 having a distinct advantage.