World Cup Toronto

John Tory wants Toronto to bid for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Toronto Mayor John Tory dropped some super exciting news for soccer fans this morning with his endorsement of a FIFA bid for 2026.

That's right, the World Cup could be coming to Toronto – but not exclusively, or for certain, and certainly not for quite some time.

Tory announced on Monday morning that he supports a City of Toronto staff report asking for the "authority to enter into bid agreements for the 2026 FIFA World Cup."

The city's general manager of economic development and culture recommends that Toronto participate in a joint bid with Canada, The United States and Mexico. If the multi-country team, dubbed the "United Bid Committee," is successful, 48 nations will play 80 matches over 30 days across North America in 2026.

Canada would only host 10 of those games, as would Mexico, based on current discussions, with the remainder being played in the U.S.

If selected as part of the bid, Toronto would likely host 3-5 FIFA games at BMO Field, which would be given additional seating to meet the capacity standards of a World Cup stadium.

City staff estimate it would cost between $30 million to $45 million to co-host the World Cup, but the total cost would be shared between the city, province, and federal government.

Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal are the only other Canadian candidates in a list of 28 potential host cities being considered across the continent, should the United Bid Committee win FIFA 2026.

Toronto City Council's Executive Committee will be considering the recommendations on Wednesday. If approved, Toronto must irreversibly commit to providing stadiums, funding and other ancillary agreements to support the tournament by February 5, 2018.

Lead photo by

Jen Yeaman


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