The 2026 FIFA World Cup of soccer won’t start until June, but the vibe will get rolling this month on the lawn of the legislature with a watch party for World Cup qualifiers.
The games will be shown on a big screen on March 31 in front of the legislature on Belleville Street.
The winner of the European group will play the Canadian national team in its World Cup opener June 12 at BMO Stadium in Toronto.
The March 31 event begins with a live viewing of a game at 11:45 a.m. Pacific between either Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina and either Italy or Northern Ireland, which will determine which of those nations will face Canada in its World Cup opener in Toronto.
That will be followed by a re-run of a game between either Slovakia or Kosovo against either Turkey or Romania that will decide who plays Australia in the first World Cup game to be held at B.C. Place on June 13.
Following that game, at 4:30 p.m., the Canada-Tunisia international friendly from Toronto will be broadcast on the giant screen.
“Island fans will get an early feel of the World Cup,” said Keith Wells, executive director of the Greater Victoria Sports Tourism Commission.
The full program for the day is expected to be announced March 23.
Public watch parties — particularly for Canada’s games and those of noted national teams such as England, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil and Argentina and playoff rounds — will be held across the country from June 11 to July 19.
Canada is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with the U.S. and Mexico. Forty-eight national teams will play 104 games across 16 host cities.
Canada will host 13 games, seven at B.C. Place and six in Toronto.
If Italy advances to play Canada in the opener, that will make Canada’s game against Qatar on June 18 at B.C. Place likely a must-win situation before Canada closes out group play June 24 against No. 17 Switzerland, also at B.C. Place.
It will also make the viewing party this month in Victoria an intriguing watch.
“Italy is in a playoff for a reason. They have missed the last two World Cups. That is a positive for Canada,” said Jamie Lowery, who played for Canada in the 1986 World Cup along with fellow Victoria players Ian Bridge and George Pakos
“We have so many Canadian players playing in Europe now that they are not fazed by whoever they meet.”
B.C. Place will host seven games in total.
Ross Marshall, managing director of Island professional club Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League, said the World Cup will get even more kids excited about the sport in Canada, from the national team to the grassroots.
source & photo: Times Colonist
