Much of the attention will be on the United States during the 2026 World Cup, but Canada and Mexico are also hosting the tournament and theyre just as excited about it.
While the US and Mexico have both staged the World Cup before, Canada will host part of the tournament for the very first time, having previously been the venue for the 2015 Womens World Cup.
A total of 13 of the 2026 World Cups 104 matches will take place in Canada split between Toronto and Vancouver, after Montreal, Edmonton, Ottawa and Regina fell by the wayside during the bidding process.
The matches
Six World Cup fixtures will take place in Toronto, which is Canadas biggest city, with a population of nearly three million.
Significantly, the first of those six matches will kick off Canadas hosting of the World Cup, on the second day of the tournament on June 12, and will see the Canadian national team play their opening group match, in front of whats sure to be an enthusiastic home crowd.
Toronto will then host four further games in other groups on June 17, 20, 23 and 26 the teams involved in those fixtures will be determined when the draw for the World Cups group stage takes place on December 5.
The citys last World Cup match will be a game in the round of 32 on July 2, between the runners-up of Groups K and L.
Tickets have already started to go on sale for the tournament, but there are expected to be further sale waves in the months to come, with more information on the FIFA website.
The stadium
Torontos BMO Field did not host matches at the 2015 Womens World Cup because it was already committed to staging events at the Pan American Games that summer, but its currently undergoing �78m of upgrades to host fixtures at the 2026 World Cup.
First opened in 2007 to coincide with Toronto FCs entry into MLS the leagues first-ever Canadian side it has staged matches at two Gold Cups, plus countless other home games for the national team.
Capacity has recently been 28,000, but that will increase to 45,000 for the World Cup the tournament requires all venues to have a minimum capacity of 40,000.
Phase one of the stadium upgrades began in December 2024 and included the installation of four new video screens, one in each corner of the arena. Phase two starts this December and will see 17,000 seats added before the stadium has to be handed over to FIFA in May.
Currently the venue has impressive two-tiered stands on either side of the pitch, with much smaller seating areas behind each goal. For the World Cup, as with Yekaterinburgs stadium during the 2018 tournament, huge temporary seating areas will be installed behind each goal 7,000 at one end and 10,000 at the other.
Brighter lighting is also being installed for TV, a new permanent hospitality facility is being built, while synthetic fibres will be stitched into the pitchs natural grass so it can cope with six games in 21 days.
The fanzone
BMO Field is situated in a pleasant location by Lake Ontario, around two miles west of downtown Toronto if you choose to walk from the city centre, youll pass Fort York, the location for next summers FIFA Fan Festival.
The park is the site of the 1813 Battle of York, when Brits and Canadians defended the area from the USA, and there will be food and giant screens to watch every match.
The fan festival area will also extend to The Bentway, which is situated underneath an expressway, offering shade during peak summer temperatures. It has currently been hosting a solar exhibition, featuring a giant robot firing lasers, in a 10-minute light show.
Where might the teams stay?
The official hotel of Toronto FC is Hotel X, handily located just a few hundred yards from BMO Field, and FIFA have already booked up some of the rooms for the World Cup.
Its not been confirmed yet whether those rooms will be used for the visiting teams, but Lionel Messi and Inter Miami recently stayed there ahead of an MLS game, while Orlando City were there when FourFourTwo visited Canada for Torontos last match of the season.
The plush 400-room hotel not only has stunning views of the city skyline but has an adjoining gym, four indoor tennis courts, a golf simulator and a games room with pool and basketball, which is frequently taken over a few hours by players from visiting MLS sides.
Theres also a cinema room holding 250 people, which could either be used to screen matches or alternatively could be a useful option to host pre-match press conferences.
A sporting city
Theres real excitement for the World Cup in Toronto, which is also home to a host of other sports.
Ice hockey is Canadas main sport, with the legendary Wayne Gretzky growing up nearby. The Toronto Maple Leafs are highly popular, playing at the downtown Scotiabank Arena, although the NHL doesnt run during summer instead you can visit Ice Hockeys Hall of Fame in the city, and have your picture taken with the Stanley Cup.
Theres also been baseball fever in the city this autumn, with the Toronto Blue Jays reaching the World Series for the first time since 1993, and coming agonisingly close to victory, before the LA Dodgers seized a last-gasp triumph. They play at the downtown Rogers Centre.
If thats not enough, the Toronto Raptors play in the NBA and the Toronto Argonauts are in the Canadian version of the NFL they play at BMO Field, and will have to move elsewhere while the World Cup is on.
The city even had a team promoted to English rugby leagues Super League for the 2020 campaign, despite the Toronto Wolfpack having to make a 3,500-mile Transatlantic journey for away games. The pandemic quickly scuppered the mad plan.
The CN Tower
At 553 metres, the tower dominates the Toronto skyline and was the worlds tallest free-standing structure until Dubais Burj Khalifa was built in 2007.
The CN Tower lift takes just 58 seconds to reach the observation deck, and theres a glass floor for those who dont suffer from vertigo. If you do, dont look down.
For those who are even more adventurous, theres an edgewalk, allowing you to walk around the outside of the top of the tower and even lean backwards over the edge dont worry, youll be very firmly attached to ropes at the time.
What else is there to do?
The downtown Distillery District is an area of quaint historic buildings that could easily be a milltown in northern England.
It was once Torontos distillery area and was said to have been visited by Al Capone during Canadas prohibition era, but its since been converted into restaurants and pubs, with outdoor areas when its warm. Its exactly the sort of place where youd expect European football fans to gather before a big match.
A short walk away, St Lawrence Market has food from various corners of the world, including Ukrainian pierogies, Portuguese pastel de nata, and good old-fashioned bacon sandwiches.
Toronto regards itself as one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, with people from pretty much every country you could imagine Kensington Market is another spot where you can find equally diverse food offerings.
The city is on the shore of Lake Ontario, the smallest of the five Great Lakes, which offers impressive views as it stretches all the way to the USA. Ferries take the five-minute journey to the peaceful Toronto Islands, offering a great vista of the Toronto skyline, and if you want to head a little further, Niagara Falls are a 90-minute drive away.
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