2026 World Cup: Latest Preparation Updates from Canada’s Host Cities

Updated: 2026-06-17 | Real-time information is subject to official announcements

The 2026 World Cup has officially kicked off in Canada. On June 12, the Canadian team drew Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1 at Toronto’s BMO Field (officially named Toronto Stadium during the tournament). This was the first men’s World Cup match ever held on Canadian soil, and it earned Canada the first point in their World Cup history—they had lost all six of their matches across the 1986 and 2022 editions combined. Substitute Cyle Larin equalized in the second half, and the atmosphere throughout was electric. For fans who live here, or who plan to fly in to watch, all the earlier uncertainty of “in preparation” and “coming soon” has now mostly settled into concrete schedules and venue arrangements.

The 2026 World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, and is the first World Cup in history to span three nations and expand to 48 participating teams. There are only two host cities within Canada: Vancouver in the west and Toronto in the east, which together stage 13 matches. Toronto’s BMO Field has added about seventeen thousand temporary seats for the World Cup, to meet FIFA’s capacity requirement of over forty-five thousand seats for host venues; Vancouver’s BC Place, an indoor roofed stadium, is almost unaffected by the weather—a real advantage in rainy June Vancouver.

The Canadian team has been drawn into Group B, with their group opponents being Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland. The good news is that all three of Canada’s group-stage matches are played at home: after the opening match in Toronto, the next two move west to Vancouver’s BC Place, a rare chance for Greater Vancouver fans to watch up close.

The knockout-stage matchups will depend on the group standings and are not yet confirmed; please refer to FIFA’s official schedule. For the full fixtures and the latest scores, see our continuously updated group-stage schedule roundup.

Vancouver’s BC Place sits in the city centre next to False Creek, and is one of the most accessible large venues on Canada’s west coast; in normal times it is also the home ground of the Whitecaps (MLS) and the BC Lions (CFL). During the World Cup, besides Canada’s two home matches, it is also scheduled to host three group-stage matches—Australia vs Turkey on June 13, New Zealand vs Egypt on June 21, and New Zealand vs Belgium on June 26—as well as one Round of 32 and one Round of 16 knockout match in early July. To get to the matches, on match days I personally most recommend taking the SkyTrain Expo Line to Main Street–Science World station, then walking about 750 metres along the official route to the BC Place security area (on match days the south exit of Stadium–Chinatown station is closed and you cannot walk to the venue from that station); if you take the Canada Line, you first need to transfer to the Expo Line downtown. On match days parking downtown is tight and crowds are heavy after the match, so driving is not worth it. If you live in Greater Vancouver or British Columbia, or want to combine the matches with west-coast attractions such as Whistler and Victoria, this will be your home base. To get a head start on what the city has to offer, see the Vancouver guide.

Toronto’s BMO Field is located in Exhibition Place (address: 170 Princes’ Blvd), and goes by the name Toronto Stadium during the World Cup. Besides the already-completed opening match, several heavyweight games are scheduled here: Ghana vs Panama on June 17, Germany vs Ivory Coast on June 20, Croatia vs Panama on June 23, Senegal vs Iraq on June 26, and a Round of 32 knockout match (opponents to be determined) on July 2. Although the venue is not in the most central downtown, transport options are varied—you can take the TTC subway to Bathurst station and transfer to the 509 or 511 streetcar to Exhibition Place, or take a streetcar directly from Union Station. On match days, both the journey and security checks take longer than usual, so it is advisable to arrive early and allow plenty of time. This is well suited to fans who live in Ontario or eastern Canada, or who want to extend their trip to Niagara Falls or east-coast cities along the way; for city information, see the Toronto guide.

Now that the tournament has kicked off, there are a few preparations worth handling as early as possible. For accommodation, hotels near the venues in Vancouver and Toronto are in high demand on match days and prices have clearly risen, so it is safer to book a room type with free cancellation first; on the west coast you can also consider Richmond along the Canada Line, and on the east coast look at the Liberty Village and King West areas. Tickets should always go through FIFA’s official ticketing platform; avoid social-media direct messages, screenshots, PDFs or resale channels of unknown origin, to prevent buying fake tickets or being overcharged—actual sales timing and prices are subject to official announcements. As for entry documents, international travellers entering Canada mostly need to apply in advance for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) or a visa; please check the Government of Canada’s official website according to your own nationality, and don’t leave it until just before departure. Finally, on match days there may be temporary road closures around the venues, so checking the real-time announcements from TransLink (Vancouver) or TTC (Toronto) and a map app once before heading out will give you more peace of mind.

If you can’t make it to these matches in person, Canada has official broadcast partners providing live coverage of the tournament locally; for the broadcast platform and timing of each match, see our guide to watching and broadcasts in Canada.