Taking place in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to be a sprawling tournament befitting the world’s biggest single-sport tournament and final.
Better still, Canada’s host cities might just be set to host even more games than initially planned, with the tournament officially expanding to 48 teams, showcasing 104 games rather than just 80.
This is a look at the two Canadian host city stadiums, BC Place and BMO Field, seeing how they’ll benefit from being a part of the World Cup.
BC Place (Vancouver)
BC Place, home of the BC Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps, is the larger of the two Canadian stadiums to host the 2026 World Cup, boasting a total capacity of 54,405, which is also larger than two of the Mexican stadiums.
As Canada’s largest stadium with a resident soccer team, BC Place was always going to be among the bidders for a piece of the next World Cup.
Importantly, BC Place got to prove its credentials at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, for which Vancouver hosted the final. Vancouver was also the site for Canada’s Quarter-Finals knockout.
In 2012, following a huge renovation and roof replacement project, BC Place earned a string of awards, including Project of the Year from the International Stadium Business Awards and the 2013 ENR Global Best Project for Sports and Entertainment.
To get everything up to code, the official website for the stadium has announced that it’ll cost up to $260 million to plan and stage World Cup games, but that being a host city could bring in over $1 billion to the province’s tourism sector.
Soccer fans in the Vancouver area will be able to get into the spirit of the sport over the next few years by following the build taking place with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Canadian club has strung together some good results over the summer months, breaking into the playoff places of the Western Conference. However, the Whitecaps are still out at +6600 in the soccer betting to win the title.
BMO Field (Toronto)
Technically, BMO Field is too small to host a World Cup game. Even at the expanded capacity of 40,148 that hosted the NHL Centennial Classic, the stadium is around 5,000 seats short of the minimum.
So, as a part of the stadium’s successful hosting bid, BMO Field will be seeing some pretty significant expansions over the next few years. Already, the official capacity has grown from over 27,000 to nearly 31,000.
Overall, the plan will see the stadium add 17,756 seats to its original capacity to end up with 45,736 seats in time for the 2026 World Cup.
While the team has slipped off the mark in recent years, in 2017, Toronto FC became the first Canadian team to win the MLS Cup, beating the Seattle Sounders 2-0 at BMO Field in front of 30,500 fans.
The triumph certainly helped to bolster the profile of the sport in and around the city, which will have likely played into the stadium’s decision to commit to an expensive expansion and win World Cup hosting rights.
Hopefully, Vancouver or Toronto will get to host the Canadian men’s team for at least one game during the tournament, preferably in the Group Stage – where they’d be more likely to secure a first World Cup win.
In the futures betting, the hosts are out at +3200 (USA), +4700 (Mexico), and +9400 (Canada). So, while none are expected to go all the way, being seeded during the Group Stage should still allow the hosts to get a win or two.
BC Place and BMO Field will be Canada’s hubs for the upcoming North America World Cup, but being assigned to different regions, we’ll have to see which one will get to host the home team in the Group Stage.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to AP Photo*
