How the World Cup Will Change Vancouver, for Better or Worse

The World Cup is coming to Vancouver.

The sound of a whirring helicopter is suddenly heard.

Sorry, I mean: The FIFA World Cup is coming to Vancouver.

The whirring disappears.

As I was saying: the arrival of the FIFA World Cup is set to bring with it fans and festivities — and more lobbyists, sportocrats, politicians and corporate glad-handers than a LinkedIn comments thread.

But what does the World Cup’s arrival in Vancouver mean for locals, whether they’re soccer fans or haters?

Over the next six months, The Tyee will be publishing a series of stories on the games and their impact on Vancouver, including the financial, social and cultural costs and benefits of hosting.

But first, we’ll answer some basic but critical questions. What is the World Cup? How many games are in Vancouver? How can I get tickets? How will it affect Vancouver’s budget and its most vulnerable people? And why is the world’s most famous “cup” not actually a cup?

Start me at the essentials. What is the FIFA World Cup?

You don’t have to be Ted Lasso’s wunderkind to know the basics already. It’s a very big football (sorry, soccer) tournament held every four years in which national teams from around the globe compete to be named the best of the bunch.

Next year’s tournament is being hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico. Most games are being played in the U.S. Of the 16 host cities, 11 are in the U.S., three are in Mexico and two — Toronto and Vancouver — are in Canada. The final will be played in glamorous East Rutherford, New Jersey. (The game is set for the newly built home of the New York Giants, just west of Manhattan.)

Let’s focus on Vancouver. How many games will be played in BC and when will they be played?

Vancouver will host seven games, all at BC Place. Toronto will host six games.

The first Vancouver game will take place on June 13. The city will host five games in the group stage, when teams compete in mini four-team leagues to advance to the knockout round. Vancouver will also host a game in each of the first two knockout stages.

All this fuss is for seven games?

Yes, although the scale of the World Cup might be hard to appreciate. The tournament is the world’s largest sporting event, and FIFA bragged that nearly three billion people watched at least some of the 2022 event.

While FIFA is not the most trustworthy source and audience metrics are always dubious, it’s true that no other event can really match the World Cup for its global reach. The Olympics are the closest comparison, but soccer is the most popular sport on Earth and the World Cup is the biggest soccer competition.

Will Canada’s national team be playing in Vancouver?

Yes! As hosts, Canada, the United States and Mexico don’t need to qualify, though all three would have likely done so. Canada, after years of being bad at soccer, is now ranked 27th in the world.

Vancouver will host two of Canada’s three group-stage games. The first Canada game will be played in Toronto on June 12. Vancouver will play host to two subsequent Canada games on June 18 and June 24.

Vancouver will also host round-of-32 and round-of-16 knockout games, including the knockout game for the winner of Canada’s group, Group B.

What other teams will be playing in Vancouver?

Some of that information will become clear Friday, during the official draw. The draw sorts the 48 qualifying World Cup teams into 12 four-nation groups. Each country will play the other three teams in their group in an initial round-robin round. Those results will then be used to determine which 32 countries advance to the knockout stage.

Pulling little balls out of a container seems pretty boring, but the World Cup draw is itself a glitzy event that attracts millions of viewers.

If you’re watching the upcoming draw, Vancouver will be hosting teams from groups B, D and G.

The 2026 World Cup field has been expanded from previous editions, and admitting more teams will bring a greater variety of potential opponents, for better or worse. The tiny island nation of Curaçao recently became the smallest country, by population, to ever qualify for the World Cup. Curaçao and other underdogs will be in tough against the best in the world.

Although Canada struggled in 2022 in their first World Cup appearance in three decades, the team has a decent shot at progressing beyond the group stage next year. Not only has the expanded field and round-of-32 knockout stage bolstered the odds for all teams, but as a host, Canada is in the draw’s “Pot 1” and guaranteed of not being drawn against the world’s very best squads, who are also in Pot 1.

How do I get a ticket to a game in Vancouver?

Do you have $3,000? If so, you (or your personal assistant) can just go online and buy a hospitality package now.

If you are a normal person, you can apply for an upcoming ticket. There have already been two ticket lotteries, but a third draw will take place after the lineup is determined tomorrow.

If you don’t get a ticket through a lottery, unsold tickets will be available for purchase through traditional means. FIFA has also set up an online portal for people to resell their tickets.

Prices, though, have angered many, including both those in host cities and those who want to travel to support their team in person.

It will cost at least $84 for a ticket in BC Place’s nosebleed seats for some group-stage games. But if you want to cheer on Canada, you’ll have to pay far, far more. Tickets for Canada games in Vancouver will start at $231. They’ll be even more in Toronto, where tickets start at $497.

Oof. There go my hopes of catching a game.

You might still be in luck: there is one major wild card.

The tournament is using a dynamic pricing scheme that will see prices adjusted based on demand. If demand for a game is particularly low, prices will be cut to incentivize more ticket purchases. FIFA used dynamic pricing for its Club World Cup, which was held in the United States and functioned as something of a trial run for the 2026 World Cup.

A lack of interest by U.S. fans led to dramatic cuts in ticket prices. In the case of one semifinal game, prices were slashed from $474 to $13.

Whether that happens next year remains to be seen, but one shouldn’t bank on a repeat. The Club World Cup has existed since 2000 but has never really caught on as a prestigious tournament. FIFA has tried to boost its profile, but last year’s ticket struggles suggest that battle has yet to be won. The World Cup proper is a different beast altogether, drawing fans from across the globe.

So I might score a reasonably priced ticket, but only if the game has little appeal for most others?

Yeah, that’s about it.

What about all the festivities and events surrounding the games?

Vancouver, like other host cities, will include a FIFA Fan Festival, which will be held at the new PNE amphitheatre and involve a rotating series of music, performances and more. The site will also include a screen to allow people to watch televised live games. Science World will also host a FIFA-approved exhibition during the games.

Local restaurants, outlying communities and community organizations are likely to hold their own gatherings. Restaurants and venues that cater to specific cultural communities are a famously spirited way to watch international soccer, though space can be tight.

Not to be a buzzkill, but how much is this costing?

So, so much. Hosting the event will cost the City of Vancouver and province somewhere between $532 million and $624 million. The city is on the hook for around half of those costs. (*In an email sent to The Tyee post-publication, a spokesperson for the local host committee said a hotel tax and other revenues tied to the event would cover most of the city’s expenses.) The rest will be borne by the province, the provincial Crown corporation that runs BC Place and local health and transit agencies.

The money is being spent to provide security and transportation and fund the fan festival on the PNE grounds. More than $100 million is being spent renovating BC Place. That includes the infrastructure needed to maintain a real grass field, rather than the turf usually used at the stadium. That new PNE amphitheatre is expected to cost $184 million.

Officials insist the World Cup is worth the cost — and that money spent will be recouped through taxes, fees and funding from the federal government. Tourism experts say large events are important to help grow the province’s tourism sector, not just next year but over the long term. And FIFA says its tournaments dramatically boost spending and improve local economies.

Skeptics, however, suggest that many sport-based economic predictions are overblown and benefits often don’t exceed the costs.

What about the non-monetary costs and impacts on locals?

As during the Olympics, many people will be watching to see how the World Cup games affect local infrastructure, institutions and people — including vulnerable communities.

We have some inkling of a few downstream impacts.

The allocation of police resources to World Cup-related events will force the Supreme Court to pause trials at its Vancouver, New Westminster, Chilliwack and Abbotsford locations. The move suggests police resources will be strained throughout the region while games are being played.

Meanwhile, Vancouver looks set to pass a temporary bylaw that will “enable the city to meet its operations, safety, security, branding and brand protection obligations to FIFA.” Changes will alter rules pertaining to temporary buildings, graffiti removal and noise management. They will also block the distribution of pamphlets and posters, restrict street vending and ban street performances near many prominent buildings.

The Globe and Mail noted that the event will turn bylaw officers into the World Cup’s own “brand police” in a two-kilometre radius around BC Place. They’ll be tasked with making sure there is no trademark infringement going on. If you run a pub and want to host a watch party, you’ll want to avoid the words "world" and "cup."

Katie Hyslop will take a closer look at this temporary bylaw for The Tyee in the coming days.

There are potentially more serious impacts too. Advocates worry that people will be moved from the area in the run-up to the games. “People in the Downtown Eastside are terrified,” former city councillor Jean Swanson told Postmedia in August.

Displacement can happen in a variety of ways, but one social housing facility has already been told it will need to close by next June.

But FIFA will ensure the money it raises goes to a good cause, right?

FIFA insists its purpose is noble. When asked about the high ticket prices and other issues, it points to the fact that it is a non-profit and that the money it makes ends up funding the efforts of its non-profit member associations.

“The revenue FIFA generates from the World Cup is reinvested to fuel the growth of the game (men, women, youth) throughout FIFA's 211 member associations globally,” FIFA told the New York Times.

But let’s just say that if this World Cup is free of bribery and scandal, it will be the first in many, many years. In a coming story, we will unpack who the Fédération Internationale de Football Association is and what it does (soccer and also often corruption).

Thanks! But you forgot to tell us why there’s no actual World Cup.

The Stanley Cup is a cup. The Grey Cup is a cup. The World Cup is not a cup. The event’s trophy, descriptively named the “FIFA World Cup Trophy,” depicts two golden figures holding a golden globe. The trophy has been used since 1974, when it replaced the Jules Rimet Trophy, which did feature a small cup. After Brazil won its third tournament in 1970, the country was allowed to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy cup permanently. But in 1983 the trophy was stolen in a spur-of-the-moment Christmastime heist. The trophy was allegedly melted into gold bars and was never found.

*Story updated on Dec. 10, 2025 at 8:36 a.m. to include comment from a local host committee.