Will Canada get World Cup games in 2026?
The biggest event in the world is knocking on our doors. We are a mere few days away from the beginning of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but before the action gets started on June 14 with a game between the hosts, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, another order of business needs to be dealt with: the official vote on who will host the 2026 World Cup.
By now, we already know that there are only two bids that will go head-to-head: Morocco’s bid, and a united bid between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. On June 13, at the 68th FIFA congress, every member state will vote on who will host the tournament in 2026. You can watch it live on FIFA.com, although the congress does begin at 2am EDT. By the time they get to the voting process however, it’ll be around 6am EDT. You can check Impact Media’s breakdown of the bidding process here.
“Being from here, and a player with the Canadian national team, I really hope the decision is taken that the World Cup comes here in 2026,” said midfielder Samuel Piette. “It would be immense. I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and see the result.”
At just 23 years old, Sam is already a familiar face on the Canadian national team, having participated in his first U17 camp when he was just 15 years old.
“I already have 38 selections under my belt, so I can’t wait to see how many I’ll have at 31,” added Piette. “I’ll definitely still be around if I’m still in health.”
Looking up for team Canada
Canada’s U21 team just returned from the Toulon tournament in France, where they came just short of qualifying for the semi-final, despite allowing just one goal through three group stage games. But Canada impressed in its first participation at the historic tournament, painting a positive picture of what’s to come in the future.
“It’s very encouraging to see our young players get those kinds of results, especially the ones from here, with whom we train every day. They put up some great performances, and in my opinion, the new coaching staff is very strong. It’s exciting.”
The Impact has a few Canadian internationals in the squad, including two that were part of the selection in Toulon, James Pantemis and Shamit Shome. Mathieu Choinière, Daniel Kinumbe, and Clément Bayiha from the U19 team were also there. Who knows, maybe they’ll all be a part of Canada’s ranks when it gets set to (maybe) host a few games in 2026.
