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Doesn't seem like several months since my last post in this blog, but apparently it is! That means its longer since I last posted than it is until the first game at the Toronto Stadium in the World Cup. 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.