World Cup 2026: Breakout stars, dark horses and Canada’s chances
6/10/202626 min
The World Cup starts on Thursday, beginning what will be the largest iteration of a hugely popular global event. This time, there are 104 matches with 48 countries competing across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. And the Canadian team will be making its third ever appearance at the World Cup, competing in Group B and playing its initial games in Toronto and Vancouver.
But can this team advance to the knockout rounds? Especially since Canada has never won a World Cup game before? Neil Davidson is a sportswriter at The Globe who will be covering his seventh World Cup this tournament. He explains Canada’s chances, lays out which young players may become international superstars and how a dog named Pickles plays a key role in World Cup history.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsCheryl Sutherland· Host0:00
[bell dings] The FIFA World Cup is about to descend upon the country, and yesterday I decided to head to where the action was. I am currently walking/biking around the Toronto FIFA World Cup 2026 stadium. [upbeat music] There's a little bit of action happening. You know? A little bit of stuff happening. Things are coming together. We have security guards sitting around the perimeter of this big fence that has banners saying, "New sum Toronto. FIFA World Cup 2026." There's a machine digging out the grass, making it look nice, as we can hear right now. A lady just walked by me. She's running. She's got a FIFA lanyard on, asking about Gate F. I'm guessing she works here. There are 104 games that start Thursday and run for about a month. And with 48 countries competing, people from around the world are all congregating in 16 cities across Mexico, the US, and Canada, including Vancouver and Toronto. We're talking FIFA officials, coaches, players, their fans, and media