With 2026 World Cup coming to Canada, a look at the legacy other big events have left
A joint North American bid won the right to host the 2026 World Cup in a vote of FIFA’s member delegations on Wednesday, meaning the massive soccer tournament will make its way to Canada for the first time. Canada has a mixed history of hosting major international sports competitions, from the financially disastrous 1976 Summer Games to the successful 2010 Winter Olympics and 2015 Women’s World Cup. Here’s a look at the legacy some major events have left on Canadian hosts.
2015 Women’s World Cup
The tournament prompted some infrastructure improvements — B.C. Place Stadium got new artificial turf and Montreal’s Olympic Stadium got new padding under its existing turf. Several training sites also got an upgrade. But the tournament was able to take advantage of new CFL stadiums in Ottawa and Winnipeg. A bigger legacy came off the field where the tournament’s total attendance of 1,353,506 — bear in mind FIFA counted attendance for doubleheaders as two matches even though one ticket gained access to both — set a record for a FIFA competition other than the men’s World Cup. FIFA called the championship game in Vancouver between the U.S. and Japan the most-watched soccer match in U.S. history, for both men’s and women’s events. Canadian Soccer Association general secretary Peter Montopoli said the success of the Women’s World Cup was raised at almost every member association meeting they had in advance of the 2026 men’s World Cup hosting vote.
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