The biggest news of the summer is here. One of the biggest sporting events in the world is coming to North America, and Canadians will get the chance to catch several games, including our own team, on home soil. Alongside Mexico and the United States, Canada will be hosting teams from 48 countries for 104 matches across 16 North American cities. It is the first FIFA World Cup to be hosted by three countries, and the first men’s tournament expanded to 48 teams, making it the largest edition in the tournament’s history.&nbsp;In Mexico, games will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey. In the United States, games will be hosted in San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Boston, New York/New Jersey, Kansas City, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. In Canada, a total of 13 games will be held at BMO Field in Toronto, temporarily renamed Toronto Stadium for the duration of the World Cup due to FIFA sponsorship rules, and BC Place Vancouver. Six games will be played in Toronto and seven will be played in Vancouver.&nbsp;On June 12, Canada will play Bosnia and Herzegovina at Toronto Stadium in what will be the first men’s FIFA World Cup match played on Canadian soil. That is not just a major sports milestone. It is a civic milestone for Toronto, for Canadian soccer, and for a country that has spent decades building toward this moment.&nbsp;We could have had a third Canadian host city in Montreal, but Montreal dropped out of the bid due to the lack of provincial government funding. In fairness to the Province of Quebec, hosting the games is an extremely expensive undertaking, and these decisions are rarely just about sports. They are about infrastructure, security, venue upgrades, public funding, and the long list of costs that come with welcoming the world.Many people are likely already stressed out about the parking situation. Luckily for you, the City of Toronto has taken care of that by making parking at the stadium, in practical terms, not an option. The City’s FIFA World Cup 2026 mobility plan confirms that public transit will be the primary way to travel to and from matches and events. There will be no public parking available at Toronto Stadium, Exhibition Place, or in surrounding neighborhoods, including Liberty Village and Fort York, where local access restrictions will be in place.&nbsp;The Toronto Transit Commission and other transit partners are expected to play a central role in moving fans around the city, with service adjustments intended to support increased demand. Walking and cycling routes are also being supported, with added bike parking, active transportation measures, and clearly marked routes. In other words, this will be a transit-first World Cup experience, whether visitors planned it that way or not.&nbsp;On the bright side, and we are glass-half-full people, Toronto’s BMO Field will still be the smallest venue used for the World Cup, even after temporary expansion. In preparation for FIFA 2026, BMO Field is adding 17,756 temporary seats, bringing total capacity to approximately 45,736. Compared with the 80,000-plus-seat venues in markets such as Dallas, New York/New Jersey, and Mexico City, Toronto’s crowds will be more manageable in scale. “Manageable,” of course, remains a relative term when the World Cup is involved.&nbsp;Accommodations are available in various forms. Toronto has many beautiful hotels, including one located right on the Exhibition grounds and just steps from BMO Field. Lakefront properties and Yorkville’s luxury hotels are likely to be in high demand. Hotels outside the downtown core are also an interesting choice. The airport area is functional, especially for travelers arriving by air, while places like Markham offer strong hotel facilities combined with excellent culture and food.Short-term rentals are also available across the city and the region. Liberty Village is a natural choice because it provides very easy access to the stadium and many restaurants. It is best to do your homework, however. What may look close on a map could be quite an adventure to navigate in person. The Greater Toronto Area is large, and Toronto traffic has a personality of its own. Not always a charming one.The university and college network may be an option for budget-minded travelers, although we are not entirely sure that label applies to any FIFA fan at this stage. With student accommodations underutilized during the summer, there may be options here for visitors willing to trade luxury for location and practicality.In any case, FIFA and related travel partners often release rooms that had previously been held in large blocks, so it is important to keep checking what is available at any given time. Hotel demand around the tournament has also been uneven across host cities, with some markets seeing softer-than-expected early bookings, partly due to high travel costs, ticket prices, and shifting travel plans. That may create opportunities for patient travelers who keep watching availability.&nbsp;European travel plans have also sparked an interesting online discussion about urban planning and the walkability of North American cities. Many Europeans online discussed plans to walk to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, from New York City. This claim seemed to spark some outrage, or at least a great deal of frantic map-checking, as Americans pointed out that walking to a stadium in much of North America is not always realistic, even when the distance appears reasonable on a map.The discussion became a broader debate about car-dependent infrastructure and pedestrian-hostile planning. MetLife Stadium is technically accessible by public transit, including NJ Transit service through Secaucus Junction and special event rail service to the Meadowlands station, but the broader point remains valid: many major North American venues were designed around cars, highways, and massive parking lots rather than pleasant pedestrian approaches.&nbsp;Canada has often been described as somewhat less hostile to public transit users as many American cities, at least in major urban centres. Regular users of our systems may wish to debate the word “less,” preferably while standing on a delayed platform with a dying phone battery. Still, Toronto’s World Cup planning is clearly pushing visitors toward transit, walking, and cycling, which may prove to be one of the more interesting legacy tests of the tournament.As Canada’s most culturally diverse city, Toronto has been described as “the world in a city.” More than 200 languages are spoken here, and more than half of Toronto’s residents were born outside Canada. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has noted that while the world will come to Toronto this summer, the world has always been here. Visitors are likely to find a city that already feels international, multilingual, and deeply familiar with welcoming people from everywhere.&nbsp;For those who do not have tickets, the options may be narrowing. According to Toronto Today, approximately 2,900 tickets were recently listed on FIFA’s official ticketing platform for the Canada versus Bosnia and Herzegovina match on June 12, with prices ranging from $2,300 to $4,705. That is not exactly casual Friday pricing.&nbsp;For those less willing to pay a fortune to watch the first men’s FIFA World Cup game held on Canadian soil, Cineplex and other public viewing options may offer a more accessible way to enjoy the tournament atmosphere. Toronto will also host a FIFA Fan Festival, with live match broadcasts and cultural programming expected to give fans a place to gather even without stadium tickets.&nbsp;The World Cup final will be hosted at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19, 2026. The final will also include the first-ever FIFA World Cup final halftime show, with Madonna, Shakira, and BTS announced as co-headliners. Whether one sees that as a bold global entertainment move or a sign that the World Cup is becoming suspiciously Super Bowl-adjacent, it will certainly be watched.&nbsp;For Canada, however, the story begins at home. On June 12, Toronto will host Canada’s first match of the tournament, and the country will take its place not just as a participant, but as a World Cup host. For a city that already speaks the languages of the world, serves the food of the world, and welcomes communities from across the world, the moment feels fitting.The world is coming to Toronto. In many ways, it is simply coming home.

 FIFA World Cup Coming to Canada

Canada hosts FIFA World Cup 2026 matches in Toronto and Vancouver, with transit plans, ticket demand, hotels and fan events in focus.

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