Soccer fans buzzing as World Cup schedule announced for Toronto, Vancouver

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.

In Vancouver, Hany Elheniedy says soccer flows through the blood of Egyptians and he cannot wait for June 21, 2026, when Vancouver's B.C. Place hosts Egypt and New Zealand as part of the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.

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 following Friday's draw and Saturday's release of the full schedule.

Elheniedy, who is president of the Egyptian Canadian Cultural Society of B.C., says he expects that the team focused around legendary Liverpool forward Mo Salah to generate a "big buzz" in Greater Vancouver and its Egyptian community of some 5,000.

Elheniedy has already purchased tickets for Egypt's two other group-stage matches in nearby Seattle, Wash., against Belgium and Iran. He says it will be "very easy to fill" half of B.C. Place with Egyptian fans from inside and outside of B.C.

B.C. Place 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.

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.

Further east in Toronto, German-born Jasper Sauerland took note when the tournament announced Germany 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.

But next summer, he says, he won't have to cast his sights back on his homeland to feel that connection. He's excited to feel a little piece of home in Canada as German fans flock to Toronto to showcase their national pride at the World Cup. He says 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 says 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.

"I feel like I've dragged a lot of people to the pub to watch Germany play when they have no connection to it [the team]." he said. "I can safely say that my Canadian girlfriend is obsessed with the German national team now, so I've done that right," he said with a laugh.

Fans in Toronto can also catch a glimpse of Croatia, Senegal, Ghana and Panama.