Toronto's temporary FIFA World Cup bleachers are almost all gone

They may not have been the prettiest giant pieces of metal, but the temporary north and south stands at Toronto Stadium certainly did the job.

They helped Toronto host six FIFA World Cup matches and more than 100,000 passionate fans over the span of three weeks.

The 17,000 temporary bleachers were a requirement for Toronto to be one of the 16 host cities at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, boosting BMO Field's capacity above FIFA's minimum requirement of 40,000 seats.

But just eight days after Toronto's epic final match between Portugal and Croatia, the temporary bleachers at BMO Field are almost all gone.

Construction workers continue to tear down the scaffolding and seats on BMO Field's temporary south stand on Friday. (Noam Streiffer/Offside)

When the stands first went up, the rows of exposed scaffolding sparked plenty of concern online, given it looked more terrifying than a Canada's Wonderland rollercoaster.

FIFA eventually dressed the scaffolding with banners before the tournament began, and even had Portugal's manager saying that Toronto Stadium reminded him of a traditional English Premier League ground by the end of the six matches.

Despite the copious amounts of criticism, there were no reported serious injuries in either the north or south stands during the tournament. The only reported fall involved a fan who, according to paramedics, tumbled down a few rows after having a few beers.

That fan was assessed at the on-site medical tent and later released.

The added seats brought the stadium's capacity to 43,036, making it the smallest venue of the 16 host cities at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Now, the stadium will return to its regular capacity of 28,180.

FIFA will hand BMO Field back to MLSE on July 22nd. (Fareen Karim)

The local organizing committee is set to hand the stadium back to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) on July 22. From there, MLSE will prepare BMO Field for the return of its two tenants, Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts, who are both scheduled to play there in early August.

As of now, MLSE has no plans to permanently expand seating at the north or south end of the stadium. But who knows?

Maybe after seeing what the venue was capable of during the FIFA World Cup, there could be a few ideas floating around the MLSE offices about what the future of BMO Field could look like.