2022 FIFA World Cup: The Impact on Canadian Culture

A look at what the World Cup meant for our country

Will Smith Contributor

The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar last December with Canada making its first appearance at the tournament since 1986. Canadian celebrations were short-lived as Canada was knocked out in the group stage without a single point. However, to put our challenges into perspective, Canada was placed in a group that included two semi-finalists, Croatia and Morocco, as well as FIFA’s second ranked team in the world heading into the tournament: Belgium.

After three rounds of exciting soccer, the finals were a thrilling showdown between reigning champs France and soccer powerhouse Argentina. The match lived up to all the hype, as the latter stages featured a back-andforth battle between Argentina’s Messi and the French powerhouse Mbappé. Ultimately though, it was the South American squad who prevailed in penalty kicks.

Far from the action in Qa- tar, and the victory parades of Buenos Aires, a massive cultural shift was underway. For one month, our hockey-crazed nation of Canada was dominated by an entirely different sport. In the North Toronto area, the Yonge-Eglinton Mall was adorned with flags and had matches live-streamed on their digital billboards. At NT, teachers played CanMNT matches during class, and a World Cup club was even run after school. Between watching Canada v Morocco in the auditorium and watching Brazil v Croatia at the mall, there was a vibrant, screaming passion for the games which was truly exclusive to the World Cup.

However, the frenzied celebrations were merely a glimpse into a much larger trend that has so far gone unnoticed: soccer in Canada is growing and it shows no signs of slowing down.

At the grassroots level, it’s overwhelmingly positive. According to Soccer Canada, the number of kids playing organized soccer has since overtaken that of hockey! Homegrown Canadian players are reaping the benefits of a cohesive system that allows them to progress from house leagues to our own domestic league, and possibly to the top clubs of Europe. Meanwhile, new and old fans alike, thrilled by the World Cup, have a full slate of Canadian soccer on the calendar to look forward to after the World Cup.

Toronto’s two soccer teams, Toronto FC and York United, are on the hunt for titles this season in the MLS and CPL respectively. For fans of the national team, more excitement is in the near future. There is much speculation that the 2024 Copa America, the South American Championship, could be hosted and participated in by the US and Canada. Of course, this will all lead up to the pinnacle of Canadian Soccer, the next World Cup in 2026, in which Canada, the United States, and Mexico are host nations, and Toronto a host city, meaning automatic qualification for Canada. This, combined with a group reduction to 3 teams but still 2 qualifiers means an expected appearance in the knockout stages for our national team. In short, there’s a lot to look forward to for soccer fans. No matter whether you prefer watching or playing, the future of Canadian soccer looks bright and it’s only getting brighter.