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Expatriates in Vancouver and Toronto are buzzing with excitement as the cities prepare to host a number of national teams for the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.
The full schedule for the expanded 48-team, 104-game tournament was announced Saturday in Washington, D.C. Canada will play 13 games: seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.
In Vancouver, Hany Elheniedi says soccer runs in the blood of Egyptians and he can't wait for June 21, 2026, when Vancouver's BC Place hosts Egypt and New Zealand in the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.
The match between the Pharaohs, as the Egyptians are known, and the All Whites, as the New Zealand team is known, is among seven games, including two knockout matches, to be played in Vancouver after the draw is made on Friday and the full schedule is released on Saturday.
Elheniedy, president of the Egyptian Canadian Cultural Society of British Columbia, says he expects the team to focus on legendary Liverpool striker Mo Salah to create a “big buzz” in Greater Vancouver and its Egyptian community of about 5,000 people.
Elheniedi has already purchased tickets for Egypt's other two group stage matches in nearby Seattle, Washington, against Belgium and Iran. He says it would be “very easy to fill” half of BC Place with Egyptian fans from both inside and outside British Columbia.
BC Place will host the Canadian men's soccer team June 18 against Qatar and June 24 against Switzerland following Canada's first match in Toronto on June 12 against a European opponent, possibly Italy.
The first game to be played at BC Place will be on June 13, when Australia will play against a European opponent yet to be determined.
Fans in Vancouver will also have the opportunity to see New Zealand for the second time on June 26 against Belgium and their superstar Kevin De Bruyne.
Opponents for the two knockout matches at BC Place have yet to be determined.
Further east in Toronto, German native Jasper Sauerland took note of the announcement that Germany would face Ivory Coast at BMO Field in the June 20 tournament.
Sauerland moved to Toronto in 2021 to attend university after growing up in Frankfurt. He said football is a “huge part” of the city's culture and playing the sport has been a source of solace for him since he moved to Canada.
“I think I was really homesick when I came to Canada, and one thing that really helped me… stay connected to home was soccer,” he said, adding that waking up early to watch a Frankfurt pro soccer game helped him stay close to friends back home and make new friends in Toronto.
But next summer, he says, he won't have to remember his homeland to feel that connection. He's thrilled to feel a part of home in Canada while German fans flock to Toronto to show off their national pride at the World Cup. He says he sees the city filled with Germans coming to the match.
“This is a country that lives and breathes football and this is a country that will come here to represent and this is very exciting for me because for the first time in a long time part of the house will come here rather than me coming home.”
Sauerland says his dream is to get tickets to the game, but given the high ticket prices, he's also happy to watch the game over a beer or two at the pub.
“I feel like I dragged a lot of people into the pub to watch Germany play even though they had nothing to do with it. [the team]”I can safely say that my Canadian girlfriend is obsessed with the German team right now, so I did it right,” he said with a laugh.
Fans in Toronto will also be able to see Croatia, Senegal, Ghana and Panama.
