Foreign nationals in Vancouver and Toronto are buzzing with excitement as the cities gear up to host a slate of national teams as part of the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.
The full schedule of the expanded 48-team, 104-game tournament was announced Saturday in Washington, D.C. Canada is staging 13 games, seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.
"We are very happy and glad that Egypt will have one match in Vancouver," fan Hany Elheniedy said in Vancouver, where B.C. Place will host a World Cup match between Egypt and New Zealand on June 21.
The match between the Pharaohs, as the Egyptians are known, and the All-White, as New Zealand's team is known, is among seven games, including two knockout matches, that Vancouver will host.
Elheniedy, who is president of the Egyptian Canadian Cultural Society of B.C., said soccer flows through the blood of Egyptians. He said his organization is looking into organizing activities and support for local and visiting Egyptian fans.
"I'm very happy, very excited and ready to support the Egyptian team," he said
B.C. Place with an official capacity of 48,821 will host Canada's men's national soccer team on June 18 against Qatar, and on June 24 against Switzerland following Canada's opening match in Toronto on June 12 against an opponent from Europe, possibly Italy.
Elheniedy said he expects that the Pharaohs focused around legendary Liverpool forward Mo Salah to generate a "big buzz" in Greater Vancouver and its Egyptian community of some 5,000.
While Egypt has won the African Cup of Nations seven times, the team's coming appearance World Cup appearance is only the fourth in its history.
Elheniedy has already purchased tickets for Egypt's two other group-stage matches in nearby Seattle, Wash., against Belgium and Iran. He said it will be "very easy to fill" half of B.C. Place with Egyptian fans from inside and outside of B.C.
"I went in 2018 to St. Petersburg in Russia for the World Cup there, and I attended the match between Egypt and Russia," he said. "I think half the stadium was Egyptian, like 20,000, 30,000 something like this."
In Toronto, German-born Jasper Sauerland took note when the tournament announced that Germany, which has won the World Cup four times, was slated to face off against Ivory Coast at BMO Field on June 20.
Sauerland moved to Toronto in 2021 to go to university after growing up in Frankfurt. He said soccer is a huge part of the city's culture and keeping up with the sport has been a source of comfort for him since moving to Canada.
"I think I got really homesick when I came to Canada and one thing that really helped me … stay connected with my home is football," he said, adding that waking up early to watch Frankfurt's professional football club has helped him stay close with friends back home and make new friends in Toronto .
He said he can see the city being packed with Germans who travel for the match.
"It's a country that lives and breathes football and it's a country that will come here to represent, which is super exciting for me because for the first time in quite some time, a piece of home will be coming here rather than me going back home."
Sauerland said the dream for him is to get tickets to the match, but given high ticket prices, he's also happy to watch the game over a beer or two in a pub.
Fans in Toronto can also catch a glimpse of Croatia, Senegal, Ghana and Panama, but neither England nor France will play in Toronto.
Both countries have won the World Cup -- England in 1966, and France in 1998 and 2018 -- and both countries have strong historical and cultural ties to Canada.
England is in the same group as Croatia, Ghana and Panama, but England's opening match with Croatia on June 17 will happen in Houston, TX., rather than Toronto.
Senegal, meanwhile, shares a group with France, but the French, who finished second in 2022, will play all of their group matches in the United States in stadiums larger than Toronto's.
The first game to be played at B.C. Place will on June 13, when Australia plays against an opponent from Europe, which is yet to be determined.
Fans in Vancouver will also have a chance to see New Zealand for a second time on June 26 in its match up against Belgium and its superstar Kevin de Bruyne.
Opponents for the two knockout matches coming to B.C. Place remain to be determined.
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Khalid Elfiqi
