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Rashid Mohiddin had not even made it inside Toronto\u2019s official 2026 World Cup launch event in March before the city\u2019s preparation problems were on display.<\/p>\n
The 100 Days to Go event was held at Rebel, a nightclub perched on a lakeside pier that could only be reached by a single access road.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe traffic snarl to just park the Uber was so insane that we hopped out and walked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The choice of food was another red flag.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe food was entirely catered by [Oliver & Bonacini Catering],\u201d said Mohiddin. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like someone\u2019s grandma making \u0107evapi \u2014 it wasn\u2019t authentic. It felt like a corporate version of something cultural.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mohiddin, these little decisions raise broader concerns about Toronto\u2019s readiness to host its first-ever World Cup. He and others wonder whether the city has adequately thought through crowd management, marketing and public services.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the location itself demonstrates how we are approaching this festival,\u201d said Mohiddin, a community organizer and lifelong soccer fan who attended the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if you\u2019d done this in the Entertainment District? Wouldn\u2019t that have generated more excitement from a regular Torontonian commuting to and from work that day?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t that a better way to promote this global festival than shunting it off in the middle of nowhere in an inaccessible location?\u201d<\/p>\n
A first for Canada<\/p>\n
In the World Cup\u2019s nearly 100-year history, Canada has never previously hosted the tournament. This year, Toronto and Vancouver will join cities across the U.S. and Mexico in hosting 104 matches, running from June 12 to July 2.<\/p>\n
Toronto is anticipating at least 300,000 visitors over the course of the tournament, while Vancouver is expecting 350,000.<\/p>\n
Mohiddin thinks Toronto\u2019s 300,000-visitor estimate underestimates demand. He suspects this number is based on attendance to the Pan Am Games, which Toronto hosted in 2015. <\/p>\n
But the Pan Am Games are not comparable to the World Cup, he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Olympics and the World Cup are the only events in the world that are referred to as sporting mega events,\u201d said Mohiddin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pan American Athletic championships \u2026 are like a high school tournament compared to the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brazil, which hosted the 2024 World Cup, saw four million foreign and domestic visitors attend the matches \u2014 about 300,000 more than projected.<\/p>\n
A City of Toronto spokesperson said its estimate was developed in the initial bid process and reflects early projections. It referred questions about visitor projections to the tourist agency Destination Toronto. A Destination Toronto spokesperson did not directly address the question about how many visitors Toronto is preparing to welcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tyeshia Redden, a geography and planning professor at the University of Toronto, notes that geopolitical factors could further boost visitor numbers beyond initial projections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201c[Because of] the increasing hostility of the United States to foreigners and tourists, many World Cup attendees changed their plans to visit Canada instead,\u201d she told Canadian Affairs in an email.<\/p>\n
In April, the Financial Times reported<\/a> that U.S. hotels are having to slash room rates because anti-American sentiment and other factors are altering fans\u2019 travel plans.<\/p>\n Marketing and engagement<\/p>\n Sources said Toronto has also been doing a poor job of marketing the tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cToronto certainly doesn\u2019t \u2018feel\u2019 like a city that is about to host an international sporting tournament in a few weeks,\u201d said Redden.<\/p>\n The World Cup is not prominently featured on the city\u2019s main website<\/a> or events page<\/a>. It is not even featured on Destination Toronto\u2019s main events pages<\/a>.<\/p>\n By contrast, the comparable agency Destination Vancouver features World Cup information prominently<\/a> on its main page, including ticketing, match details and travel planning.<\/p>\n Bruce Kidd, a former Olympian and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto\u2019s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, said he would have liked to see Toronto do more to build enthusiasm for soccer ahead of the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is disappointing to me is that there wasn\u2019t \u2026 a major effort to use this event to promote the sport to those communities and age groups that don\u2019t participate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kidd says the World Cup in Toronto could come and go \u201cwithout leaving a legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n Redden adds that poor communication and lack of community engagement could also undermine the experience for fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n