Wow. That would be amazing.

And maybe not pie in the sky either. It could work if FIFA are impressed with how the women pull it off (oo-er).

Toronto will get the final if it happens. That's beyond predictable. Probably all the Canadian group stage games, also. To a certain extent it doesn't matter. It would be enormous for the game here.

Bad_Gones said: Is there a possibility to co-host with the USA? 12 venues seems like a lot.

Honestly I think that is the only option...and quite frankly BC place is the only stadium we have that is even remotely close to some of the stadiums we saw in the euro.

Oh man this would be great if this happens. Please CSA and Canadian gov't, make this happen!!

This country has already proven it can host big, international tournaments, all we have to do is show great support in the Women's Worlds and our chances are pretty damn good.

Plus, if this gets the Caps their SSS, all the more better. I wouldn't mind if they play the finals at TO, as long as we get a good group to play in our side of the country. Maybe Germany, or France.

Addict said: Dear Victor Montagliani:

David Brent...what a beauty!

This sounds realistic. We only need to design and build every single stadium, create a national league with teams capable of filling them, develop a national soccer culture, get a competitive national team, and load our soccer association up with bribing-FIFA-members cash, all in fourteen years.

This is just a new CSA president trying to get into the news. There's no realistic chance Canada will host a World Cup this generation.

start saving your loonies for those bribes!

12 stadiums is what's needed for a FIFA World Cup or an IRB Rugby World Cup. Yes, the CSA should bid for a World Cup, but Rugby Canada should do the same. If it happens, it should be the catalyst for good stadiums - for the CFL, for the CSA, and for Rugby Canada.

All new stadia in this country should be planned with the following in mind: permanent turf for CFL football; temporary end zone seating for Grey Cups and World Cup bids; temporary natural turf for soccer and rugby; and even removable lower seats to temporarily hold athletic tracks (and host Commonwealth, Pan Am, Francophonie Games).

You need facilities that holds 40K temporarily. These will need to be primarily CFL stadiums.

Van, Edm, Tor, and Mtl have large enough facilities. Cgy has a 30K+ facility, Wpg will soon. Ham and Ott are building 30K+ facilities. Regina is talking about it.

So what's needed?

A 30K+ in Quebec for a tenth CFL team. 20K stadiums in Halifax and Victoria that would be for university football most of the time.

If you look at the map, that means BC (Vic/Van); Alberta (Edm/Cgy); Prairies (Reg/Wpg); Ont (Ham/Tor); Capital (Ott/Mtl); and East (Que/Hfx).

Either way, we need to have the CSA take the lead on talking about this, which they should have started doing a decade ago. If we're ever going to do this as a country, we need to ensure that all new stadiums are planned with this in mind.

Chris said: Toronto will get the final if it happens. That's beyond predictable. Probably all the Canadian group stage games, also. To a certain extent it doesn't matter. However, it would be enormous for the game here.

A significant renovation of Olympic Stadium in Montreal would be more feasible than building a brand new 70,000-80,000 stadium in Toronto. It already has close to the capacity required for a final and is already built. It would need a revamp similar to BC Place to upgrade facilities and structural integrity.

• Tear the roof off, leave it open or install a retractable roof;

• tear down the giganormous video screen and dead space in the 1 end and install seating 360 degrees around the pitch. this would probably add 5-10k;

• reconfigure the lower levels to a bowl or rectangular shape getting rid of the godawful baseball seating;

• replace seats;

• add loges/suites;

• install a new pitch.

Let's face it, major league baseball will never be back at the Big O so might as well maximize it's use as a football, soccer, event-space.

Where would a Toronto stadium be built? Who would pay? What would it be used for following hosting? Renovating Rogers Centre would be fine and dandy, but it would fall well short of the required capacity to host the final game.

Blue_and_White_Army said:

Lord_Bob said: To get a World Cup, you have to be either a serious soccer country or moderately to highly corrupt. Canada is neither (sorry, Harper haters).

Don't forget simply "have shitloads of cash". How'd the Yanks get the 1994 World Cup, then?

They were a serious soccer country in the way that counts (people who'd fill stadiums to watch the old country) and, of course, that was 18 years ago.

Royalcity said: This is ridiculous! I'd rather the CSA had a vision about our own Canadian soccer league that grows Canadian players and pays them to play in a stable and economically viable Canadian league? Certainly there are local politicians, local league officials and corporations the CSA can bribe instead of FIFA?

I've listened to his recent interviews on Team 1040 and he stated numerous times that growing and keeping local talent is in his agenda. I don't see why we can't focus on both.

I'd love it if this happened, but then again I'd love it if I won the $50 million this evening. Neither is likely.

Royalcity said: I'd rather the CSA had a vision about our own Canadian soccer league that grows Canadian players and pays them to play in a stable and economically viable Canadian league?

I agree that given the choice I'd rather have an eight team D2 CSL playing in 5-10K stadiums (also used for our national teams, and a re-born national rugby league). But like "Olympics or Health Care", it's not a simple either/or. Corporate sponsors and governments are interested in 30K CFL or MLS stadiums because the CFL, MLS, and World Cup are proven quantities. D2 soccer is not, so their interest in 10K stadiums is not at the same level.

The CSA should be doing the prep work for pro teams, stadiums, etc, but they can't afford to run them. What you build has to somehow pay for itself (which is why Coke will sponsor the Winter Olympics but won't pay for BC hospitals). Infrastructure for a World Cup bid would pay for itself, either immediately or eventually (CFL, etc). Much as I'd love to see an eight team D2 CSL playing in stadiums of 5-10K, the problem is that those facilities aren't going to create the same potential for profit that a WC would.

Fynnsky said: Look at how the US soccer landscape changed after 94. If this somehow happened, the Canadian game would explode.

Maybe. Maybe not. If they did the infrastructure on the cheap, there would be little or no legacy (see Victoria 1994 Commonwealth Games, Victoria hosting 2007 Youth World Cup, etc). If they do it properly, it would give the CFL a complete set of modern facilities, and give Canadian soccer and rugby first class options for international matches (though arguably bigger than those sports can currently fill). I'm not sure that Canadian soccer would benefit as much from a WC as the CFL would (not that I think that's a bad thing).

Ambition is good...despite the healthy skepticism here, I do see some reasons why winning isn't out of the question.

First, FIFA likes Canada. We've held a series of successful World Cups at lower levels with great attendances, and we'll likely knock it out of the park for the Womens World Cup in 2015. In some cases, we've taken on World Cup events that no other country bid for. The CSA are not strangers to FIFA members. As far as FIFA members are concerned, we're a really easy country to do business with and we hold successful events.

Second, after holding World Cups in Russia and Qutar, there's a possibility FIFA members will appreciate going to a World Cup where travel and visas aren't a hassle, and world class players aren't complaining about the conditions. I would bet serious money that these will be points of contention at both World Cups.

Third, barring serious social upheaval in Qutar before 2022, that World Cup is likely to be at best underwhelming, and at worst a complete S***show. FIFA already recognizes they made a huge mistake in awarding Qutar with the tournament, and that will be reflected by the time the bidding for 2026 comes up. The big problem for them is that 2026 will bring out the worst politics and divisions in the organization. CAF and AFC could gang up on UEFA, while CONCACAF and CONEMBOL might not be able to get behind an American bid.

The third scenario's the most important. Canada is an easy, compromise candidate. Nobody hates us. Nobody doubts our ability to build and host. And when it comes to this category, we have far more friends in the football world than Australia.

The fourth is simple. A Canadian World Cup can bring in USA type revenues. It's a cash cow.

It's not likely, but this is what we should shoot for. I believe we will build a D2 league well before the decision. A World Cup is the natural next step for us next decade.

I was going to suggest a Cascadia bid, but that might be too political for FIFA :O)

One other thing in Canada's favour, perhaps only a minor thing: it is highly unlikely that there would be accusations of corruption should we win. There is, at the very least, the perception of corruption at FIFA due to the 2018 & 2022 winners. A third tournament with that kind of cloud overhead must absolutely be avoided.

theonewolf said: Just a thought. Toronto would just turn this into a campaign to build an NFL and MLB stadiums. As a Vancouver fan I think a better plan would be a west coast bid. Vancouver seattle san fran la san diego oakland san jose sacramento phoenix las vegas portland

Incidentally, this isn't possible. Unlike the Olympics (where individual cities decide to bid), the World Cup is bid on by National Football Associations. The CSA could theoretically pair up with the USSF on a bid (although the USSF has no real reason to), but individual cities can't organize and go to FIFA without going through the FAs.

In therory it would be nice if you could make it a joint USA/Canada bid and limit it to the Pacific and Mountain time zones. Think of all the cities...

Vancouver Vicotria Edmonton Calgary Regina Seattle Spokane (alt Pullman) Portland (alt Eugeen) Boise (soccer on blue turf?!?!?!?) San Francisco (alt Palo Alto) Los Angeles San Diego Las Vegas Salt Lake City Denver Phoenix Albaqurqie

However we know that a lot of politics would get in the way, and the CSA being eastern minded would puke at the prospect.

World Cup Alberta 2026. Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Fort McMurray, Lloydminster (not that heathen Saskatchewan half though)... so many great cities.

Neeskens1974 said: Australia are in a far better position to hold a WC than Canada.

Australia are in Asia - they won't go to two asian federation countries in a row. It's pretty much a North American tournament as Africa won't get another wc for a while. South America is a sh*t show so doubtful they jump the line.

Nobody mentions Mexico?

If it was going to be a semi-continental tournament, most likely the east would host. Ie. Nyc, boston, philly, miami, det, toronto, montrel, dc, etc. Better for tv.

Australia should have got the 2022 one if FIFA really were wanting to try and grow the game.

I still wouldn't be surprised if Qatar get the 2022 games taken away and it's given to the US. That would make 2026 a non starter anyway.

Love Bill's post above.

I support the bid!!!!!!!

Given the controversy over this last round of bidding, I'd say it's extremely likely the 2026 games goes back to a more "traditional" country, in an effort by FIFA to prove they're not corrupt. So I'll put the early favorite as England, should they chose to enter a bid.

In the mean time, Canada should keep an eye on how this rumored 2016 Copa America centennial tournament (CONMEBOL + 6 CONCACAF) goes, and if it becomes a more permanent fixture look to apply for that in future years.

I just don't see Canada having the willingness to build essentially 10 new stadiums.

Watchmen said: Given the controversy over this last round of bidding, I'd say it's extremely likely the 2026 games goes back to a more "traditional" country, in an effort by FIFA to prove they're not corrupt. So I'll put the early favorite as England, should they chose to enter a bid.

Any country that is a traditional powerhouse in football, like France, Germany, Argintina, would be a safe bet for 2026.