I remember France 98, we got beaten by both Brazil and Morocco enroute to a bottom of the group finish. Let's hope history does not repeat itself. We have been drawn against Brazil in 1974 (0-0), 1982 (1-4), 1990 (0-1), and 1998 (1-2) so 1 draw, 3 defeats across 4 games in a total of 7 world cups we've been to since 1974. I'd take a repeat of the 1974 result against them if you offered it right now! If we can avoid slip-ups then the current squad surely has a chance to make a name for itself as the first Scotland team to get out of the group stage, something that is statistically easier this time around with 48 teams instead of 32, but we all know Scotland don't do things the easy way ... its like watching ICT (or Toronto FC).

Another possibility is for there to be a new Scottish top scorer at the tournament, not the golden boot for the tournament itself (although that would be really nice) but just the top Scot. Joe Jordan has the most goals for Scotland at the World Cup, with 4 in total having scored 2 in '74 and 1 each in '78 and '82. Three other players have two World Cup goals total, Archie Gemmill got two in 1978, both in the same game, and I think we all remember only one of them ❤️. John Wark was our top scorer in 1982 with two in the game against New Zealand and Kenny Dalglish has two as well, but spread across two tournaments with one each in 78 and 82. If McTominay, McGinn or Shankland can bag two goals in total then they would join the three players who have scored more than once at a World Cup, and if by chance anyone got three or more, they would be our all-time top scorer in a single World Cup tournament ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves, I think we would all take an 89th minute sclaff in the box deflecting of Grant Hanley's right erse cheek if it got us three points.

ESPN had a decent article this week about the World Cup predictions and for Group C it predicted - as many have - Scotland to finish third but noted a 67% chance of advancing. The simulation, performed 1000s of times has this averaging out as a low scoring group and shows Scotland ending up with 4 points and a 1-1-1 record. According to the Supercomputer we are going to beat Haiti 2-1, draw 0-0 with Morocco and lose 1-0 to Brazil before crashing out 1-0 to Mexico in the round of 32. I guess that sounds plausible and also puts the kybosh on us hoping for a new top scorer for Scotland at a world cup. (source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/48962628/world-cup-predictions-picking-winner-every-game-entire-tournament)

On a personal level I thought long and hard before deciding not to cross the border into USA and go to Boston. There were just too many factors conspiring against me personally, professionally and it has to be said, financially, with tickets, travel and accommodation costs putting it well out of reach of most 'normal' people this time around. The cherry on top of it is that my son's football team will be playing in a tournament close to Niagara Falls next weekend on the very day that Scotland kick off against Haiti. So instead, we have a group of around 40 parents who are all going to the pub to eat loads of fried food, drink loads of beer, and hopefully be converted into Tartan Army members, although I don't think this will work on the Haitian family who are part of our group nor those with Spanish or French connections. Should make for some interesting banter however ... and yes, full Tartan Army uniform will be in force. The kilt is being dusted down, the Scotland top is already in hand, and I have my (really comfortable) Adidas World Cup trainers, courtesy of FIFA.

Anyone following the blog will have seen I was unsuccessful in getting tickets for any of the games in Toronto, and although prices are now coming down slowly, they are still pretty high and may eventually sell out before reaching my comfort zone. I will keep my eye out just in case things improve. However, what started as 'Plan B' to try and get a role inside the stadium on matchdays by volunteering my services, has instead seen me get a role that is called "Host City Management" and I will be based at the Volunteer Centre that is located in the heart of the Fan Fest area near the stadium.

The title sounds high falutin' but it's basically checking in other volunteers and telling them where they need to be and being kept in reserve in case, we are needed elsewhere. The description of this new role, notes that we need to be flexible, adaptable, and capable of performing many different roles, so I'll take that as a compliment. The training we are receiving is comprehensive and things, while perhaps looking chaotic on the surface, which is not unexpected given the sheer quantity of applications received, is actually very well organised, and smooth. I went to pick up my accreditation and uniform the other week and was in and out of the place I had to go in about 20 minutes with all my gear. During training it was confirmed to us that there were more than 250,000 applications for volunteer positions in Toronto alone, of which a total of about 3200 volunteers were selected in total, and in the role I have been given, only a total of around 60 people. The same is true of other roles where it was whittled down from that initial 250K to just a few. As the tournament draws closer, I am actually looking forward to this quite a lot and after signing up for the required 8 shifts the other week, I actually went into the volunteer portal and added 4 more today although none when Scotland are due to play! Wherever I end up on any given day, the atmosphere is going to be electric around Toronto and it's time to breathe it all in. If I ever experience this again, it's unlikely I will be able to go home to my own bed at the end of the evening and that's kind of a surreal feeling.

And so to a little final comment about the "Toronto Stadium". I am going to say it now. I think the smallest stadium in the tournament might actually be very popular with fans and players alike. The temporary stands are not exactly attractive from the outside, but on the inside of the stadium it does not look too bad, the fans are really close to the field (like 10-15 feet at the front row) and there is no running track or other barrier distancing the field from the players. They WILL hear you if you are close enough to the action. I know that much from TFC games.

They tried a dry run at the recent TFC -V- Inter Miami game and because Messi and co. were in town, they managed to pretty much sell out the stadium. They also implemented World Cup travel schedules on public transit and put the proposed entry procedures into effect to test it, and it has to be said, it all seemed to go pretty smoothly considering there were twice as many people as normal in the stadium. The atmosphere was pretty good with 45K in the stands, although with World Cup crowds I think it will be more raucous and louder than the Messi-hunters. Despite the result, a 4-2 defeat with Messi and Luis Suarez both on the scoresheet, the experience felt good. I looked around and wished the Tartan Army would have been drawn here. I think any team as loud and as passionate as the TA will make this stadium rock.

No Scotland No Party !

Thanks to my son's youth team, I was able to secure tickets for us to go along to Canada -Vs- Iceland as I mentioned in part 1. This was my first international game in 30+ years. My last time was at Hampden Park in the early 90s I seem to recall so this was a bit of an adventure. It was also my son (and my wife's) first ever international game.

The game itself was a disappointing 2-2 draw in freezing temperatures, with both of Canada's goals coming on Jonathan David penalties in the second half. Prior to that Iceland had led 2-0 at HT courtesy of sloppy and shoddy defending from Canada in the first half that gave away goals that should never have happened, albeit with a largely second or even third string defence on the field. Do that in the World Cup and the result will not be as forgiving.

If I am honest, I had to admit, as a regular visitor to BMO Field, my focus was more on the stadium itself as it is officially classed as completed ahead of the world cup with any tweaks to be largely cosmetic or fixing, covering or 'prettifying' certain things. Personal opinion is that I hope they do tart it up a bit as some of it is still a bit underwhelming or even embarrassing. We spent $146m on what appears to be North America's largest stockpile of scaffolding poles and only a small portion of it will be left behind as any legacy of the World Cup. The scaffold poles are apparently all being shipped out to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics once FIFA leaves town.

The picture in the header of this article can be clicked for an entire panorama of the stadium, but here are the individual stands with a little commentary about the changes that have taken place and what if anything will be left behind.

South Stand

The south stand is traditionally the supporters' section at BMO Field and has been there since the stadium was opened in 2007. The portion where the current crowd is located is the normal home for the noisiest and most raucous TFC fans and holds maybe 3500-4000. In the graphic you can see an all-new section above this that will hold about the same as well as what appears to be a hospitality area - likely for some people in the regular seats as it seems to be too far away from the actual pitch to be a viewing box. Despite the BMO Field canopy (not really a roof), the sightlines from all seats have been checked and there is no issue.

The entire upper section (grey seats) will be removed and disposed of at the end of the World Cup which is a bit of a shame. The reality however is that Toronto FC do not need 45,000 seats or even 35,000. The current capacity of just under 30,000 will be sufficient for all but the most popular of games (currently Miami and LAFC with Messrs Messi and Son)

Main Stand

The Main Stand has been left untouched from the Toronto FC layout with any tweaks and upgrades being cosmetic or not associated with the actual capacity. The dugouts have been replaced, some of the main stand hospitality suites have been upgraded or merged and upgrades are pretty much all behind the scenes. You can also see two of the massive 4 screens that are in each corner. They dont look much in the picture, but when you get up close and personal they are pretty huge. These will stay after the World Cup.

East Stand

The East Stand, opposite the main stand is another with little to no adjustments apparent for the World Cup. This is a normal 2-tier stand and the view from the top level is as shown in the blog header at the top of the page. Again, there are the big screens now in each corner which will remain after the World Cup.

North Stand

I left the North Stand until last as the entire structure was not there before. It is nestled between the end of the playing field and a building nearby called the 'Food Building' which is used during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) each year to serve up weird and wacky food combinations. Google the CNE if you want more info - or perhaps that's an idea for a blog entry in August since there is usually one or two matches during the CNE. Another reason there is typically not a stand or anything other than casual standing at the at end during the normal season is that BMO Field is shared with the Toronto Argonauts, a CFL team that uses a longer field so needs more space for the endzones. (CFL is like the NFL but with less downs, lower wages, smaller crowds, and less brand recognition).

After the World Cup the bottom seats and the top seats will all be removed, but the structure holding the hospitality boxes, as well as a rooftop patio will remain. Not quite sure how that will look, but I guess we will see in August/September. The angle of the upper tier seats appears to be very steep and again its like a huge Meccano set at the back of it. I really hope the scaffolding is covered up with some form of FIFA supported branding during the tournament.

Scaffold Poles

Apparently, it has passed all structural design and safety checks, but the sheer quantity of scaffolding poles joined in every conceivable direction just has to be seen to be believed. What also blows my mind - working for an engineering company - is that each and every one of these poles would have been mapped out in a 3D modelling program and subjected not only to design review but also risk analysis and various simulations. It is not just a haphazard joining of scaffold poles to one another. The time it would have taken to do this has to be acknowledged as impressive (and likely tedious for the engineers).

A couple of pictures here, taken outside the South Stand really do fail to do it justice. Again, I hope they cover this up with something for the games to at least prettify it!

Ticket Woes

With the Italians failing to qualify for the world cup in the playoffs, Canada will now face Bosnia & Herzegovina at the stadium on June 12th. There was apparently a surge in the number of resale tickets offered up on Ticketmaster and StubHub after the Italians didn't progress. However, with an estimated 162 different nations represented in Toronto, and with the city being acknowledged as one of the most diverse on the planet, there is also a somewhat healthy Bosnian diaspora as well. According to the last census in 2021, there were around 36,000 people who listed Bosnia & Herzegovina as their country of origin, with roughly 1/3 of these living in the Greater Toronto Area.

The games are still expected to sell-out and tickets for the game on June 12th first priced at around $500 are still on the market for about $5000, with the most expensive pitch side seat apparently listed at over $100,000 !!! Most normal fans simply cannot afford it.

And now for the good news! After exhausting all avenues to get a ticket from official sources, and giving up hope of hearing anything from FIFA about the volunteer position I applied for last year, which was supposed to be notified by February, an email dropped quietly into my email inbox a couple of weeks ago ... its official, I am now a Host City Ambassador. I have a vague idea of what that is, but FIFA preparation is very thorough and training for the position starts tonight!

I hope to bring some insight into the journey in future blog postings and am starting to make my way through a 50+ page manual that details all the do's and don'ts, which so far do seem pretty normal and sensible. Wont post any more about it until I have read it completely as one of the first things I noted as part of this, is that FIFA asks you to make it clear your social media posts reflect your personal opinion, not that of FIFA or the Competition. all pretty standard disclaimer type wording. So be aware, everything I post (and everything I have ever posted to be honest) is my own opinion, and may not reflect the opinions or policies of the organisers, sponsors or anyone else associated with FIFA.

Ok, so with all that being said, its time to wrap up this post and prepare for the training. You do get FIFA branded uniforms/gear as part of this, which will be a pretty nice souvenir to go in my football cabinet. Over the cold and snowy winter, I have (finally) been able to set things up in my home office with all the various Caley Thistle and TFC memorabilia I have amassed over the years instead of it sitting around in plastic storage containers in the basement.

Will have to create some space for the World Cup memorabilia that I will either purchase myself or be given as part of my role in this World Cup. Really pleased to have been selected. Onwards and Upwards.

I watched the match yesterday and have to say that this was a deserved victory for Bosnia & Herzegovina. They fought hard for every ball, looked like scoring on multiple occasions and deservedly equalised when they did. Was very impressed with them and they will now be in Canada's group for the World Cup alongside Qatar and Switzerland. They will be Canada's opening game opponent here in Toronto on June 12th and at the risk of looking foolish by making another assumption, I suspect there will be a lot of tickets made available in the coming days on the resale market. There is a huge Italian diaspora in Toronto and around Toronto and Ontario and many of them are now likely to try and offload the tickets they paid so dearly for. Still not going to be cheap but if the Italians had qualified then the existing tickets would have increased in value even more.

This defeat for the Italians also sets an enviable new record for them and for the World Cup. Apparently, this is the first time that any previous winner has failed to qualify for the tournament three times in a row.

Elsewhere, the stage is now set as the final six nations in the World Cup are now decided. As mentioned, Bosnia will now go into Canada's group alongside Qatar and Switzerland. Sweden beat Poland 3-2 and will join Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in group F. Turkey beat Kosovo 1-0 and get slotted into group D alongside USA, Paraguay and Australia while the final European qualifier Czechia, who beat Denmark on penalties last night go into Mexico's group with South Africa and South Korea. I am just glad that Scotland somehow got the job done against Denmark at Hampden and could watch this from the sidelines. We would have undoubtedly found some way not to qualify if we had needed to face some of the nations in these playoffs.

The South American, Caribbean, Africa and Middle East playoffs also took place yesterday to decide the final two teams that will make up the 48 teams at WC 2026. Iraq triumphed over Bolivia to secure a spot in group I with France, Senegal and Norway. The final spot went - perhaps controversially - to DR Congo who will face off with Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia after defeating Jamaica 1-0 in extra time. Why controversial you ask? The Congolese progress in the competition was beset by complaints from the Nigerian federation that DRC had illegally played a number of players in their match against them and should have the scoreline revoked. This would have put Nigeria in the playoffs against Jamaica and potentially got them to the World Cup. The complaint noted that under Congolese law dual citizenship is not allowed and that between 6 and 9 of their players had played during the playoff match against them. You can read more about it here but FIFA eventually threw the complaint out and after last night it seems there is no way back, even under an appeal for the Super Eagles. https://www.withinnigeria.com/2026/03/27/nigeria-2026-world-cup-qualification-can-the-super-eagles-still-make-it-through-the-fifa-case/

For now, my attention now turns to the games in Toronto with of course an extremely watchful eye on at least three games in Boston and Miami!

• Canada -V- Bosnia & Herzegovina (June 12)

• Ghana -V- Panama (June 18)

• Germany -V- Ivory Coast (June 20)

• Panama -V- Croatia (June 24)

• Senegal -V- Iraq (June 26)

• 2nd Round game (July 3) - runners up group K -V- runners up Group L (Portugal/DRC/Uzbekistan/Colombia -V- England/Croatia/Ghana/Panama) - I predict Colombia -V- Croatia

Didn't think I would have to write a blog admitting to getting it so wrong about the Italians failing to qualify, but as Greavsie used to say about footy .... "It's a funny old game". That is why this is labelled as part 1a. Part 2 is still to come :)

77 days from now, on June 12th Canada will open the Canadian portion of the FIFA World Cup when they take on that famous team of "TBD". (that's apparently what it says on the electronic ticket - for those lucky enough to secure one). Yesterday morning, the identity of 'TBD' was between Northern Ireland, Italy, Wales and Bosnia & Herzegovina but after some horrible results for the home nations the final qualifying match next Tuesday in this group will see Bosnia & Herzegovina take on the Italians for a spot in the World Cup. The game will take place in Zenica rather than in the capital of Sarajevo. The Italians did something similar last night and dispatched Northern Ireland in Bergamo, home of Atalanta, rather than playing in vast stadiums in Rome, Milan or Naples.

There is a huge Italian diaspora in Toronto and the surrounding area (known as the GTA [Greater Toronto Area]) who are holding their breath hoping that the Azzurri can make it to the finals after failing to qualify for the last two World Cups and in danger of becoming the first previous winner to fail to qualify for the competition three times in a row. If they do qualify, that could see face value tickets that averaged around $1200 for the Canada game surge to 3 or 4 times that cost. The Ontario government is however trying to expedite a new law for the province that would make selling tickets for any event above face value illegal - they hope to have it in place before the World Cup.

This past week, the Toronto Stadium as it will be called for the World Cup (or BMO Field to those of us who have Toronto FC tickets) was finally completed with only minor tweaks to happen so apparently, we are ready to host that first game and 5 more after that. The video of the mayor unveiling a plaque circulated online this week and showed a good view of the seats. It looks absolutely "fugly" from the outside, like a Meccano set of scaffold poles. The sheer quantity of poles looks incredible but we are told it is safe and it is similar to temporary expansions put in place before for the Grey Cup and the MLS Cup finals in 2016/2017. Much of it will be torn down after the world cup but the new screens and the new hospitality suites will remain.

I will get my chance to see it in person tomorrow, as Canada take on Iceland in one of their last friendlies before the World Cup proper. I will be in a different seat to my normal Toronto FC tickets so that too will be an experience. Hopefully lots of photos and maybe a video or two to come after that if my fingers are warm enough to take some footage! It’s -8 here today and forecast to be 0c tomorrow at 1pm when the game kicks off. This will be my first Canada game and also my first international in probably 30 years Would need to do some research but I know it was at Hampden last time I saw Scotland play

The new stands will not be operational tomorrow unfortunately. The first outing - I think - for the new stands is in May when Toronto face Inter Miami FC in TFC's last MLS game before the world cup. That will be the final home game of a set of 9 consecutive home games!

More to follow in part 2 - and some interesting news.

In my case, the door that closed was yet another advanced World Cup ticket window which ran until October 31st and should have seen those lucky enough to get selected receive a purchase time and date by November 7th.

Having said that, this comes with a huge caveat in that there is actually no guarantee that even with a purchase time and date you will get a ticket! The only guarantee is that you will be able to login and see what - if any - tickets are available for the venue you want, and if there are tickets you would be able to purchase up to 4 tickets for your chosen game if available. Lots of ifs, buts, and maybes in here.

Its all irrelevant though as my email didn't arrive, so now, a week after the deadline, I am pretty certain I will not be able to login and see if there are any tickets for that exciting match up between TBD and TBD at BMO Field The Toronto Stadium, If it follows the last timeline, I will likely get confirmation of this in about a weeks' time, nearly two weeks after the purchase window has closed.

After this window then it's about to get opened up to the public in general and getting a ticket is going to be nigh on impossible although I do have some hope through 'Canada Reds' the organisation for supporters of the Canadian National Team and I still hold out hope that somehow and some way, Toronto FC will also offer some form of ticketing given that they claimed part of the reason for a 25% hike in season ticket prices for next year were because of the $162m cost of upgrades to the stadium for the world cup that they have agreed to partially fund. The rest of the cost will come from the city and I will be on the hook for my share of that through municipal taxes as well ....

And now to the door that opened ...

I applied way back before even the first ticket window opened to see if I could be a volunteer at the World Cup in Toronto. I heard nothing for a while, but last week just as I realised I was not going to be selected for the next ticketing phase, an email dropped into my inbox saying I had been successful in passing the first test to be a volunteer!

You fill in a sizeable application survey that asks you a lot of questions and also gives some scenarios and asks how you would handle specific situations and also state which positions you are interested in. It was clearly designed to screen out those who might not be suitable for one reason or another. I guess my application was empathetic and sensible enough as I have made it past that first hurdle.

No idea just how many hurdles there are to overcome, or how many applicants there are (10s or even 100s of thousands I am sure) but my 'Volunteer Team Tryout' is scheduled for tonight. You get a 90-minute tryout window and there are literally hundreds of windows open to choose from in the next few weeks. No idea what they will ask or what they will need us to do, but I've got my ICTFC top and hoodie with me, and my Toronto FC baseball hat and jacket. Hopefully these bring me good luck on my quest for some involvement in the World Cup atmosphere as a volunteer. If not, we keep trying for the tickets until the games themselves are over.

I still worry about the infrastructure in Toronto being able to cope ... I mentioned in my last entry that I didn't go to the TFC -V- Miami match as someone made me an offer too good to refuse on my tickets. That offer helped soften the blow of the 25% price hike of the season tickets, but I was determined to make it down to the last game of the season against the other team from Florida (Orlando) on October 18th. My journey down to the stadium was pretty mundane, dropped off at the nearest subway station by my wife, then a 60-minute journey across two subway lines to the main rail station and a 20-minute journey to the stadium on the streetcar. These are absolutely going to be choke points when there are 45,000 people in the stadium. getting from subway to streetcar has a really narrow corridor which looks busy with 100 people in it, let alone several thousand and streetcars themselves, even the double-car articulated ones don't hold as many people as a normal train or a subway car.

Toronto won the game comfortably with a final score of 4-2. Canadian international and TFC team captain Jonathon Osorio opened the scoring and goals followed from Djordje Mihailovic (2) and Deandre Kerr, neither of whom are going to be on the radar of anyone reading this blog as far as I know. Mihailovic is of Serbian and Macedonian descent but born in USA and played for the national team 11 times, scoring 3 goals. He is the man TFC turned to when they terminated the contracts of high priced Italian designated players Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne during the season. Still finding his feet in Toronto, he is more workmanlike than the Italians but looks like he will work hard and add some grit to the midfield instead of flash. I do have to say I did like Bernardeschi at TFC. He worked really hard, but with a nearly $7m per year salary, the return was just not enough for the execs of the club. Deandre Kerr is a local lad and at 22 is probably getting to the stage where he needs what they call over here a 'breakout season'. He has popped up with some well needed goals from time to time but needs to do it more regularly if he wants to claim a regular starting spot. If not, then he may just fade.

Anyway, back to the infrastructure ... Getting home after the game was a far more challenging affair! Toronto's subway system is definitely what you might call rudimentary. Although there are technically 4 lines, really that is just two main lines supplemented with a couple of shorter ones, one of which is permanently closed before its replacement is in place. You then have streetcar or bus routes above ground in the downtown core. The main system itself looks like a big (crooked) letter U with a line through it. (There is also a commuter train system for cities outside Toronto but that's a different beast).

On the map here, to get home, I have to retrace my steps and travel to the bottom of the U from the red streetcar line that's hanging below it like a tail pointing to the left, then all the way up the yellow line until it turns into the purple one, across the purple one to the end, then either a bus or my car north from there for about 10-15 mins. All told, about 90 minutes or so. On this particular day, I made it part way up the yellow line without incident, to one station below the green line, then the whole system was shut down. After sitting on the train, underground, for about 20 minutes, they said get off the train, its out of service and heading back south. Everything north of us was shut down due to an incident at a station 7 stations north of us. This is a common occurrence on the Toronto Transit Commission system (TTC) given the U shape design, trains cannot loop back or bypass stations where an incident happens so the controllers have to reposition them as best they can when problems happen. I ended up having to walk from one station, north to the station where it intersects with the green line, then take it east 4 stops to another station where a bus would take me up to the end of the purple line. It is an alternative, but not a good one. In the end it took nearly 3 hours to get home instead of 1.5 and if it happens during the World Cup with a lot more people in the downtown core, its going to be a logistical nightmare and you know that Uber and Lyft will have surge pricing in force for the whole competition and Toronto taxi prices are already insane. I don't feel full of confidence that the TTC or the Toronto City Council have a proper transit plan in place for the world cup and local news articles about what may be planned (fast track lanes on the streets) make me think that getting around the already congested city in Summer 2026 is going to be almost impossible.

Travellers, who do persevere and get a ticket will also have to put that perseverance to the test when travelling around Toronto.

Alas it was not meant to be, probably also in part due to the fact that I restricted myself to only the games taking place in Toronto, which only has 6 games overall, or just 270,000 tickets. Many of these will be part of hospitality packages starting at $2500 per ticket, or allocations yet to be released or held for teams and officials. A cat in hell definitely had a better chance than me! But we stay positive and wait for the next round of ticketing in phase 2.

Why only Toronto you ask? Well quite apart from the geography involved that means I can get to Glasgow quicker (and cheaper) than I can take a domestic flight to Vancouver, Canadians for the most part are avoiding travel to our nearest Southern neighbours. Recent reports are showing a 20-30% downturn in cross border travel since the administration there announced a desire to make Canada the 51st state and imposed huge trade tariffs on exports from Canada. End result is that popular destinations like Las Vegas, Florida, Texas, and northern border cities like Buffalo, Detroit and Seattle are all reporting economic impacts from lower-than-normal visitor numbers.

With the Iranian delegation also being denied entry visas to even watch the World Cup draw in December now that they have qualified, and other immigration policies coming into force, including a new pricey "visa integrity fee" for anyone not in the Visa Waiver program this tournament is shaping up to have a lot of geo-political under-currents that might affect attendance. I am going to make a prediction that FIFA will somehow make sure that Iran is drawn to play in either Mexico or in Canada and hope they don't qualify for the last 32. Group L seems a good bet, with two group stage matches in Toronto although the other is in the USA.

Overall, this turmoil could make demand for tickets in Mexico and Canada a lot higher and chances of getting a ticket a lot lower. The UK is part of the visa waiver program so no visa issues there (for now) but anyone planning the World Cup would do well to start checking the visa situation now as these things are notoriously slow ... I read online this week that the current visa situation for those requiring them (mostly Asia, Africa and South America) is something like 186 days so it's cutting it quite fine!

On the plus side, the cheapest prices in Toronto did seem to start at an affordable USD$60 cost when I looked. Admittedly this was tucked high in the stands in the corner, but still in the stadium nonetheless ... We will see how dynamic pricing affects this. The secondary market (stubhub and others) already has that huge matchup between TBD and TBD on Jun 17th selling for anywhere from US$750 to $1000 per ticket but once more tickets hit the market, and the teams are known that could rise or fall ...

In my last blog I mentioned that Toronto would get an infrastructure dry run on a big crowd attending BMO Field (sorry Toronto Stadium) when the Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami entourage came to town. I was ready to head down and watch the game with my son until I got the proverbial "offer I could not refuse".

Despite me constantly telling him it should be Ross Tokely, my son has CR7 as his "GOAT" so was not overly bothered about seeing Messi again. He saw the game in-person last year and that was good enough for him, so I put my tickets up for sale on Ticketmaster for a hefty price with us agreeing to go if they did not sell and to stay home if they did. The price was higher than I expected to get as I was secretly hoping they would not sell. Surprisingly, someone wanted my tickets so desperately that they paid the asking price, so we sat down to watch it on TV on Saturday afternoon. Although Messi, Suarez, Busquets, De Paul, and Alba all started, the game itself was a bit of a snoozefest. Messi played well but was no match for man-of-the-match Sean Johnson, the Toronto FC goalkeeper who thwarted him at every turn. As with last year, half the stadium was sporting crisp new Argentina or Miami shirts and there were several pitch incursions, so it was indeed a bit of a circus. At least last year we got to see Messi's bodyguard prowl the sidelines like a panther stalking anyone who dared to try and reach him, but he got told by the league towards the end of last season last year that he was no longer permitted to do that on a match day so that element of fun was removed. By the end of the game, Lionel Messi's appearance in the 1-1 draw pretty much paid about 50% of my 2026 season ticket cost. A pretty good day all around. Sergio Busquets announced before the game that he would retire at the end of the season and now Jordi Alba has said the same thing. It would not surprise me if Luis Suarez was next as the man looks in agony every time he runs. Have to be honest in saying that they were all good to watch in their time in MLS. They may not have been in their prime, but skill does not fade, only pace and fitness (and Suarez's knees).

Unfortunately, this dry run may be closer to how the world Cup will go for me too ... 20 miles north of BMO Field, but so near yet so far if the next round of ticketing is not kind.

Keeping fingers crossed and keeping my eyes open for other avenues

For World Cup 2026, you get three mascots for the price of one since the event is being held across three countries.

In a caricature of Canadians that would make our late great friend the @IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER proud, and give him many moments to wind me up, Canada gets Maple the Moose. Only thing better would have been Louie the Lumberjack or Bob the Beaver!

According to the FIFA website, "Maple the Moose was born to roam, journeying across all of Canada’s provinces and territories while connecting with people and embracing the country’s rich culture. A street style-loving artist, music enthusiast and dedicated goalkeeper, Maple found purpose through creativity, resilience and unapologetic individuality. With a knack for making legendary saves and a heart full of strength and leadership, Maple combines endless stories and unstoppable flair."

Meanwhile, Mexican mascot, "Zayu the Jaguar is from the jungles of southern Mexico, embodies the rich heritage and vibrant spirit of the country. With a name inspired by unity, strength and joy, Zayu transforms on the pitch as a striker, showcasing exceptional ingenuity and agility that intimidates defenders. Off the pitch, Zayu embraces Mexican culture through dance, food and tradition, uniting people across borders with passion and pride. More than an athlete, Zayu is a symbol of cultural celebration and connection, carrying the heart of Mexico with pride".

Finally, the USA of course have a bald eagle as their mascot: "Clutch the Bald Eagle possesses an unquenchable thirst for adventure, soaring across the United States and embracing every culture, game and moment with boundless curiosity and optimism. Fearless on the pitch and uplifting off it, Clutch leads by action — rallying teammates, lifting spirits and turning every challenge into an opportunity to rise higher. A social spark and sports fanatic, Clutch, like all great midfielders, unites people wherever they go, proving that true flight is about purpose, passion and play."

All joking aside, I am sure it will be big business for FIFA and you can already buy these on the FIFA website for £30 or CAD$50.00.

The video for the unveil also looks more like the start of an animated series than a simple unveil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR52cerl0CQ

On Tuesday, the City of Toronto (owners of BMO Field) and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), the owners of Toronto FC and other franchises in the city, who are also the exclusive custodians of BMO Field, announced they had completed Phase 1 of the work for the upgrades to the stadium for next year's World Cup.

Due to the continuing MLS football season as well as the Toronto Argonauts CFL season, Phase 1 was largely concentrated on unseen stuff other than 4 new video screens, measuring 30 feet x 50 feet with a resolution of more than 5 million pixels. Stuff like a new video control room, executive boxes in a currently under-utilised part of the stadium, and new kitchens for new and existing hospitality suites etc. There is also a new super lounge that was made by combining 4 current individual suites into one. They expect to use this for international delegations and world leaders who may visit to watch their teams during the World Cup. Now that Toronto FC are officially eliminated from the playoffs, and there are only two home games left, the second phase will begin in earnest next month.

Phase two of the $146m upgrade will see 17,000 temporary seats added, 10,000 in the North part of the ground which is currently relatively open due to the requirements for the CFL Toronto Argonauts and 7000 in the South area which currently has a single tier stand and is known as the 'supporters' section'. The capacity for the stadium at the end of this will be 45,000 but these seats will almost all be removed after the world cup with the stadium reverting to a 30,000 capacity after that. Only the executive suites and some seating at the North end will be retained as they turn that north end into a general admission area with rooftop patio for TFC games.

As part of phase two, the stadium will also get new dugouts, a new playing surface (thankfully) and the entire Wi-Fi, sound and lighting systems will all be upgraded to meet FIFA broadcast standards. Overall the city is on the hook for the lions share ($123m) but MLSE are also paying $23m and had previously ploughed $100m into renovations in 2015 after the original stadium was built in 2007 for a cost of around $62m. I will be honest, as nice as it is in some areas, it does not feel like you are sitting in a $160m stadium right now! Here's hoping that the additional $140m+, which is apparently still on-budget elevates the experience.

As a resident of Toronto, my biggest fear is transportation to and from the events. The city is quoted as saying the expected bill for transit, increased policing, and emergency coverage for hospitals etc is expected to top $40m but it lacks specifics. They would only say they have a "fulsome mobility plan" when it comes to traffic. That makes me really nervous. Toronto traffic is a mess at the best of times and there are little to no details on how it's going to work. A stretch of the 401-highway running east to west across the northern suburbs of the city is officially the busiest highway in North America, even busier than the notorious LA traffic and it is a running joke in Toronto when driving is that you are always an hour away from Toronto. That is only going to get worse next year for the WC.

One little snippet that also fills me with dread in the press release from the club and city said "Don't expect to find any parking near the venue" (which is not a surprise) but also that a new streetcar stop will unload passengers just east of the current stop. A streetcar, even the large double (articulated) ones, carry at most a couple of hundred people so if that's the braintrust at work it's going to be a cluster**** of epic proportions.

Getting to BMO Field this weekend will be a good test of the current state of traffic and infrastructure. Lionel Messi is in town with the Miami FC circus of supporting acts, so the stadium will be filled to near capacity with thousands of fresh crisp new Argentina and Miami shirts, and I almost certainly guarantee that it will be a s***show!

The TTC (our subway and bus operator) will undoubtedly have some lines closed and shuttle busses running. Streetcars will be overloaded and as for parking near the stadium, the touts will be wanting $50-$100 for a parking spot instead of the usual metered $5 charge. I will be attending with my son so for us (who live in the suburbs) its going to be a drive from home to the subway station and park there (15mins), then the subway downtown (35 mins), and depending on any scheduled closures which happen every weekend somewhere, we will either take a streetcar to the existing stop near the stadium (30mins) or may need to take a second subway line and bus to near the stadium (45mins).

There are three new transit lines in various stages of completion around the city, but it is likely that only one of them might be operational next year and the most useful one - the Ontario line - which actually terminates near the stadium, is not slated to open until 5 years after the World Cup!

On the ticket front, perhaps more movement next week ... We should begin to find out if volunteer applications have been accepted and the results of the ticket lottery for VISA customers should drop in the mailbox to tell us if successful or not. Fingers crossed.

Almost there ... as the graphic says: 11mins and 50 seconds until I can officially apply for tickets for the 2026 World Cup courtesy of FIFA partner VISA's presale window.

Having said that, all of this was after well over 90 minutes of the spinning dots tantalisingly telling me I was almost there, and then the countdown timer starting at 30 minutes! All the while while I was keeping my fingers crossed that my browser didnt crash or I had some other IT failure happen!

The actual process of applying for the tickets after the window opened up and gave me FIVE MINUTES to complete my info after waiting two hours was pretty simple. Fill in a little extra data from your FIFA profile, add your credit card number and off you go ...

So thats that then, I am on the list to try and get tickets for either Scotland (if we qualify) or for any game in Toronto which might include one Canada game and whoever else might be drawn here.

So whats next?

According to the site, thats all there is for now. I now wait until 29th September to find out if I was lucky enough to get something in the draw and if so I believe I can score up to 4 tickets.

If nothing awarded for this then I am keeping the eyes peeled for any and all other opportunities to get an order in. FIFA dropped the news last week that "dynamic pricing" would be in effect. This is basically the same type of surge pricing that Uber uses for their services when busy and can see the cost rise two or three fold or more! It can however also work in reverse and dynamic pricing for the Club World Cup recently held in the USA as a pre-cursor to the main tournament saw tickets drop as low os USD$4 per ticket !!! FIFA have however said that no tickets will drop below the absolute minimum cost of USD$60 per ticket.

Personally, I don't care who it is playing the game, although I would obviously like it to be Scotland -V- Canada or some other meaningful game for me personally, but I just want to be able to take my son and wife to a game so we can say we experienced the World Cup!! I think that is something my son will remember long after I am dead and gone!

Plan B?

Oh yes, one must always have a plan B. Not sure it will work for the family, but I also submitted an entry last month to be a World Cup volunteer in Toronto. If I cant pay to get in the stadium, then maybe I can volunteer to get in for 'free'.

Its a bit of a longshot, and you could find yourself based anywhere from the airport to a hotel, to some random street in downtown Toronto, or if you are really lucky then maybe you could be an 'ambassador' greeting players or VIPs to the stadium, escorting them to the expensive seats and hoping to not only soak in the atmosphere but also get a glimpse of the game. The list of positions seems daunting and the application process did seem like a bit of a psychological test to see if you had the warm and fuzzies required for dealing with thousands of well-oiled fans ... We will see

Plan C?

Guess I will have to watch it on telly like the rest of us ...

Fingers crossed I dont need a new Telly !

No idea who Canada will be playing yet, what group it will be, or who makes up that group (fingers crossed for Scotland) but it's the World Cup so it's not going to matter ... If I get tickets, then I am at the game regardless. Double-checked the FIFA site and yes, I am still registered for the World Cup Lottery. Also hoping that my 18 years as a season ticket holder at Toronto FC and BMO Field might count for something but won't hold my breath on that one.

It has been previously announced that the City of Toronto would host six matches. We now know that this will kick off on day 2 of the World Cup on June 12, 2026, with the first-ever men’s FIFA World Cup match on Canadian soil and featuring Canada’s Men’s National Team. Toronto is also hosting a second round match on July 2, 2026 but nothing after that unfortunately.

Toronto Schedule:

• June 12, 2026, Group Stage, Canadian Men’s National Team opener

• June 17, 2026, Group Stage

• June 20, 2026, Group Stage

• June 23, 2026, Group Stage

• June 26, 2026, Group Stage

• July 2, 2026, Round of 32

Not much hype around the city just yet, not even in football circles. It's talked about, but not with any sense of urgency. I am sure that will change over the course of the remainder of 2025.

Toronto is such a diverse city, so any time the World Cup is on elsewhere, we see clips on TV from "Little Italy", Little Portugal", and various other enclaves around the city where certain supporters congregate due to the ethnic makeup of the neighbourhood. Have never encountered a little Scotland, little England or even little Spain, but I am sure they exist somewhere in the City. If not, the Tartan Army and other supporters groups will, I am sure, setup camp somewhere!

The City is doing its best to start promoting the event and now has two websites dedicated to it. The main city website section: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/fifa-world-cup-26/ and a separate World Cup site: https://torontofwc26.ca/game. Looks like the marketers have really airbrushed the descriptions of some of the neighbourhoods around the downtown and failed to mention the dark side of some of them! More on that later perhaps.

I will leave you with a small video to whet the appetite for Toronto.

The current field is undergoing in-place upgrades as the MLS season continues and the new stadium will go from this ....

to the images below with the addition of temporary seating. The stands on the left (West/Main) and right (East) will remain largely unchanged. The South End (supporters' section) will have a second tier added and the entire North End that is currently open (to accommodate the longer pitch required for CFL games) will be built (and torn down after the WC).

More info and musings to follow if there is interest?

Looking North [click to view full size]

Looking South

Looking across the South End (area on left is pre-existing, the seats on the right will be new)