Vancouver, Montreal soccer fans boo U.S. anthem after trade talks break down

Vancouver Whitecaps fans cheer as the team walks onto the field before game 2 of a first round MLS playoff soccer match against Los Angeles FC, in Vancouver, on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. The Whitecaps are shifting their first-round CONCACAF Champions Cup game on Feb. 7 to Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., because of a scheduling conflict at B.C. Place, the club's home stadium. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER — Soccer fans are again voicing their disappointment over trade relations between the United States and Canada by booing the American national anthem.

Jeers echoed through Vancouver’s BC Place ahead of a Major League Soccer game between the Whitecaps and FC Dallas on Saturday as singer Emma Currie launched into the opening notes of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The song was similarly booed at Stade Saputo before CF Montreal hosted the L.A. Galaxy there earlier in the day.

The audible protests came hours after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended talks with the U.S. and recalled his negotiators back to Ottawa, prompting the Americans to impose 50 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian exports.

Carney later said he walked away from a bad trade deal and promised that Canada will match the U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar.

Canadian sports fans previously booed the American anthem in stadiums and arenas across the country when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports in early 2025.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2026.

The Canadian Press