Despite hurdles, Toronto will be ‘ready’ for World Cup, city tells AFP

FILE: Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow participates in a photo opportunity following an announcement at Toronto's BMO Field on Friday, May 3, 2024, which revealed $104 million in federal funding for Toronto to host six games during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

The 2026 World Cup will be the first played across three countries -- but unlike the United States and Mexico, Canada has never hosted before.

In Toronto, which is splitting Canadian matches with Vancouver, the run-up to the tournament has faced obstacles.

Those have included occasionally diverging views with FIFA on spending essentials and budget uncertainty.

But the Executive Director of FIFA World Cup 2026 in Toronto, Sharon Bollenbach, told AFP hurdles were to be expected, promising the city is “going to be ready” for kick off in just over six months.

“To make a decision to be a host city in a World Cup is a big bold decision,” Bollenbach said.

“I really believe that big cities like Toronto sometimes need to make big bold decisions, and those aren’t always popular with everyone.”

‘Over the top’

Most of the tournament will be played in the United States, which hosted the 1994 games. Mexico, like Canada, will have 13 World Cup matches. It previously hosted in 1970 and 1986.

Bollenbach noted no country, or FIFA, has experience with a 48-team tournament and 104 matches -- a fact that has allowed for some “flexibility” in hosting negotiations.

There were cases where Toronto told FIFA “that’s kind of over the top, we can’t manage that from a budget perspective,” Bollenbach told AFP, calling such dialogue “really good.”

One example was training sites.

FIFA wanted Toronto to build three new pitches but was ultimately “willing to back down on that,” Bollenbach said.

“We wanted to make sure if we were out there building training sites, that they were actually going to be used,” she added.

“We went from needing multiple new pitches for training sites down to one.”

Trump clouds visitor projections

Toronto will learn which teams it’s hosting after the World Cup draw in Washington next week. Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed Wednesday he would attend, alongside U.S. President Donald Trump.

Bollenbach said initial rough projections indicated 300,000 people may visit Toronto during the tournament, numbers that will be refined after the draw.

Toronto may also have to prepare for higher numbers, given the prospect some football fans may be more comfortable travelling to Canada than to the United States.

Trump pledged in May that all fans would be welcome during the World Cup, but there is evidence his policies -- including immigration raids -- have suppressed tourism.

The travel research firm Tourism Economics forecast in August that total international arrivals to the United States would fall by 8.2 percent in 2025, citing “negative global travel sentiment toward the US.”

“I think that’s how people feel, not even related to the World Cup,” Bollenbach said, adding it would be “wise” for Toronto to consider the chance it receives an anti-Trump visitor bump.

Budget uncertainty

Toronto’s World Cup matches will be played at upgraded BMO Field, home of the city’s MLS franchise, Toronto FC.

The lack of major capital projects has helped contain expenses, Bollenbach said, with the current hosting budget pegged at roughly C$380 million (US$277 million).

But Toronto had to sign on to host before it received funding commitments from the province of Ontario.

The tournament starts in June, but that funding deal is not complete, with city-provincial budget talks a constant source of drama in Canadian politics.

“The discussions are ongoing,” Bollenbach said. “There’s been a bit of back and forth behind the scenes.”

Estimated hosting costs are higher in Vancouver, partly due to the required renovations on the BC Place stadium, and the private sector in the west coast city has raised concern about sufficient hotel spaces, local media have reported.