Canada will open the 2026 World Cup in Toronto, seeking its first World Cup win.
After months of waiting, Canada finally found out its opponent for the nation’s first men’s World Cup game on home soil on Tuesday, confirming a matchup against No. 66-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12 in Toronto.
After drawing 1–1 in regular time, the Eastern European nation upset No. 12-ranked Italy in a penalty shootout 4–1 in front of a chaotic crowd in Zenica, clinching its spot in this summer’s tournament through the UEFA Path A qualifying bracket. While the match featured a listed capacity of less than 10,000, fans were packed tightly into the Bilino Polje Stadium, with flares flying in the streets and stands hours before the match and throughout the game, just feet away from the touchlines. With the victory, Bosnia and Herzegovina head to their second World Cup in history and return to the tournament for the first time since Brazil 2014. Before the euphoric victory on home soil, they leaned on a penalty shootout win over Wales in the semifinal, shocking the Cardiff crowd after 40-year-old striker Edin Džeko scored the 1–1 tying goal in the 86th minute.While Bosnia and Herzegovina have only been to a single World Cup since declaring independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, they still have more success at the tournament than Canada, picking up a win over Iran in 2014. Canada is still searching for its first result outside of a loss at a World Cup, having suffered three defeats and three shutouts at Mexico 1986, before scoring two goals but still losing all three group stage matches at Qatar 2022. For Canada, the hope is for a storybook World Cup, given the talents of Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies, Juventus’ Jonathan David and CF Villarreal’s Tajon Buchanan and Tani Oluwaseyi all relying on home advantage. After the World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto, Canada will face Switzerland and Qatar at Vancouver’s 54,000-seat BC Place, with the potential to play both the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 in Vancouver as well, should they win the group.said of the summer. “I want to see our fans all in red in the whole stadium...we need every stadium to be packed withBen Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.
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