Ванкувер болон Торонто хотуудад болсон 13 тоглолт Канад улсад хөлбөмбөгийн соёлыг шинэ түвшинд гаргах боломжийг бүрдүүллээ.
Швейцарын шигшээ багийн дасгалжуулагч Мурат Якин Ванкувер хотын зохион байгуулалт болон цэнгэлдэх хүрээлэнгийн уур амьсгалд сэтгэл хангалуун байгаагаа илэрхийлж, тус хотыг дахин зорих хүсэлтэй байгаагаа хэллээ. Бельгийн хагас хамгаалагч Кевин Де Брюйне мөн Ванкуверын BC Place цэнгэлдэхийг жинхэнэ хөлбөмбөгийн уур амьсгал бүрдсэн газар хэмээн онцолсон юм. Торонтогийн BMO Field-д тоглосон Португалийн дасгалжуулагч асан Роберто Мартинес ч тус цэнгэлдэхийг Английн Премьер лигийн хуучны талбайг санагдуулам, гайхалтай газар хэмээн үнэлэв.
Тэмцээний үеэр Ванкувер болон Торонто хотуудад хөгжөөн дэмжигчид олноор цугларч, нийтийн тээврийн хүртээмж болон зохион байгуулалт өндөр түвшинд байсан нь Канад улсыг хөлбөмбөгийн томоохон үйл явдлыг хүлээн авах чадвартайг харууллаа. Канадын шигшээ багийн Мароккотой хийсэн шөвгийн 16-гийн тоглолтыг тус улсын 5.4 сая үзэгч телевизээр үзсэн нь түүхэн дээд үзүүлэлт болов. Энэ нь Канадын нийт хүн амын найм орчим хувь нь уг тоглолтыг үзсэн гэсэн үг бөгөөд тус улсад хөлбөмбөгийн сонирхол огцом нэмэгдэж байгааг илтгэлээ.
Даваа гарагт Канадын Хөлбөмбөгийн Холбооны гүйцэтгэх захирал Кевин Блю хэлэхдээ, саяхан болж өнгөрсөн тэмцээн нь тус улсад мэргэжлийн хөлбөмбөгийг хөгжүүлэх гарц боллоо гэв. Тэрээр үндэсний шигшээ багийн амжилт болон телевизийн өндөр рейтинг нь хөрөнгө оруулалтыг татах гол хүчин зүйл болохыг онцлов. Одоо Канад улс энэхүү эрчээ алдахгүйгээр дотоодын клубүүдээ дэмжиж, хөлбөмбөгийн урт хугацааны соёлыг бэхжүүлэх сорилттой нүүр тулж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
VANCOUVER – Murat Yakin had just seen his Switzerland side qualify for the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1954. And yet it was when the Swiss head coach was asked about where the game was played that his face truly lit up.
“(Vancouver) is a wonderful city and we have been very successful here with the triple win,” Yakin said after Switzerland finished their three-game stay in Canada, only matched by the Canadian team themselves. “I really want to come back here with my family.”
Yakin’s smile stayed as he left the podium following his press conference. With that, Canada’s time as World Cup co-hosts ended. The remainder of the World Cup will now be played in the United States.
The World Cup will be missed in Canada. Because co-hosting it has the potential to become transformative.
For years, soccer in Canada has had moments, sure. Toronto FC’s 2017 MLS Cup was the biggest sports story locally for a few days, but only because the Toronto Maple Leafs were at the beginning of their rebuild and the Toronto Blue Jays were not playing at the time. Canada’s World Cup qualifying win over Mexico in the Edmonton snow in November 2021 heightened curiosity about the national team domestically, but did not grab that curiosity whole.
This World Cup in Canada was different. The games in the country, especially Canada’s three games, have been the biggest story in Canada this summer. And there is reason to believe that because of Canada’s successful run as co-hosts, Canadian soccer culture could elevate into a new stratosphere the way American soccer did after hosting the 1994 World Cup.
The reality is that before the tournament, Canada felt like it was tacked onto this tournament. The United States hosted 78 matches, compared to 13 in Canada.
Yes, the two Canadian host cities received as many games as the three Mexican cities in total. However, Mexico also played host to the World Cup opener. That it then played host to one of the tournament’s great games — England against Mexico in the round of 16 — did make Canada feel like the youngster who was grateful to get an invite to the adults’ table for once.
The first glimpses of Canada truly latching onto the sport domestically came in 2015, when Canada hosted the 2015 women’s World Cup. The country logged impressive attendance numbers throughout: the 1.3 million total spectators are the second-most in the tournament’s history. That was a higher number of fans than those in France, who hosted the tournament with the same number of games, four years later. Women’s soccer has hit heights in Canada that men’s soccer has not yet.
But if we’re talking heights in the game, the 13 games Canada hosted suggested we may not yet understand just how high Canada as a country could climb on the men’s side.
Canada showed out as co-hosts for the World Cup. There were raucous atmospheres and full stadiums for every game, despite the exorbitant ticket costs. Canada’s two stadiums both showed what some World Cup stadiums south of the United States border did not: charm.
In Vancouver, crowds gladly and energetically walked along False Creek with a view of nearby mountains into BC Place. Remember, Vancouver originally dropped out of the bidding process in 2021 before eventually rejoining in 2022. It would have been a crying shame for the soccer world not to have experienced Vancouver and for the city not to show itself off as a true soccer destination.
BC Place might have been one of the smaller World Cup stadiums. But it drew rave reviews and felt like a stadium that could host soccer for a long time.
“The city of Vancouver, I’ve only been here for a short stay, but I have to say it was a really nice stadium to play in. It feels, for me, like a real football stadium,” Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne said after Belgium beat New Zealand 5-2 in Vancouver.
“The other two are massive, but you have all the NFL feeling, so I think for us it’s really nice. You felt it on the pitch. It’s a bit different, so it was a pleasure.”
Stephen Eustaquio takes a corner during Canada’s group match against Qatar at a packed BC Place Vancouver. (Sarah Stier – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
And Toronto’s BMO Field?
Interest in the tournament appeared at a fever pitch when Canada kicked off against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tension was palpable in the city as Canada spent nearly a week training and welcoming young fans to training sessions. The 17,000 added temporary seats at BMO Field in Toronto did not feel like enough to capture the excitement around the city on the day of the game and through the next six games.
BMO Field looked the part as the most traditional-looking soccer stadium in the World Cup — north of Mexico, of course. Perhaps more people throughout the city will be enticed to spend more time at BMO Field watching Toronto FC in the months and years to come.
“It reminds me a lot of the old-fashioned Premier League grounds, a wonderful field, a wonderful field. So congratulations to everybody,” then-Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez said after his team’s 2-1 round-of-32 win over Croatia in Toronto. “I think it is a shame there are no more games here in Toronto because we really enjoyed it.”
Beyond the stadiums, at a time when the United States’ political influence on the World Cup came into question, Canada’s World Cup presented a healthy alternative.
Public transit ran on time and in plentiful amounts to get fans to and from games in stadiums incredibly close to the downtown core. Having Canadian women’s soccer legend Christine Sinclair do announcements on Vancouver’s Skytrain was a fitting touch.
Remember as well, Vancouver, generally speaking, is a notoriously standoffish city. And Toronto is one of the largest cities in North America. There is never any shortage of entertainment options. And yet?
The World Cup dominated the Canadian public’s interest from start to finish.
The World Cup was omnipresent in each city, the way it was not in every American city. Every match day in Canada brought the same energy beforehand. Fans gathered by the thousands and marched through the streets. Fan festivals were routinely packed. Colombia and Portugal fans showed up en masse outside team hotels in Vancouver and Toronto, respectively.
Luis Diaz makes a brief balcony appearance in Vancouver
Phil Hay
“That’s just the way we roll in this country and in this city,” FIFA vice president and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani said of Canada and Vancouver as hosts during April’s FIFA Congress. “We’re very welcoming, and we understand what it means to treat our visitors the right way.”
And the interest in soccer stretched beyond Vancouver and Toronto. An average audience of 5.4 million viewers on Canada’s host broadcasters (TSN, RDS, CTV, Noovo and Crave) watched Canada’s round-of-16 loss against Morocco. That became the most-watched World Cup game outside of the final on record in Canada.
For context, the current population of Canada is a little over 41 million. Getting approximately one in every eight people watching a Canada game is a sign that the country is latching onto soccer for good.
Between Fox and Telemundo, a combined 42 million people watched the United States’ round-of-16 loss to Belgium. In terms of the respective percentage of the population watching the game, Canada and the United States’ viewership numbers are similar. Canada might even have a slight lead, depending on current population numbers.
Few would question the United States’ interest in soccer. And with the TV numbers during a home World Cup and the attitude displayed towards the sport during the 13 games hosted in Canada, no one should doubt Canada’s interest in soccer any more.
Moving forward, Canada has an opportunity to cultivate a long-lasting soccer culture, thanks in part to the interest shown in both Vancouver and Toronto. Both cities are home to MLS teams as well as two more Canadian Premier League clubs relatively close by. (Acknowledging that going to a Pacific FC game on Vancouver Island requires at least a 90-minute ferry ride)
Losing the Vancouver Whitecaps to possible relocation after the positive momentum built in the sport this summer would certainly cause the legacy of Canada’s World Cup to be tarnished.
And so, just like after the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., there is some onus on Canadian soccer fans, both new and diehard, to sustain interest in the sport by supporting local soccer. In Vancouver, there is an onus on the provincial government to find a solution to the Whitecaps’ stadium woes that keeps the team in Vancouver.
Public and private investment in local club sides is the easiest way to ensure that the legacy of this World Cup in Vancouver and Toronto will not fade away.
“The more professional soccer in this country, the better,” Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said on Monday.
Blue sees the World Cup in Canada as a gateway to professional soccer thriving in Canada. That could include, in his estimation, media interest and corporate Canada investing in professional Canadian soccer after understanding the sport is “Canada’s fastest growing and most globally relevant”.
And now, more than ever, Canada should consider itself relevant in the soccer world.
“The conditions for helping facilitate (growth) are driven by the national teams and their success and the TV ratings,” Blue said. “I think what we just accomplished over the last however many weeks is an example of the power of this sport.”
