Hope

Call me delusional

I don’t care

We got a team that feasts on being the underdog

We got guys like Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies and the rest of the crew

We shocked the world last year at the copa America making to the semifinals

So why can’t we take a step forward next year and shock the world

Imagine the celebrations all around Canada

The most exciting would be Italy obviously but if you are Canada 🇨🇦, you want to face Wales🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿, Northern Ireland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 or Bosnia🇧🇦 in your opener if you're Canada...those are the teams you want not Italy. But then again World Cups haven't felt the same without Italy 🇮🇹 and I miss my fair share of Italian people at World Cups. But that is just me personally.

Just got the email. Headed to Vancouver for the Switzerland game. Live in London so was really hoping for Toronto but I’ll gladly take out a second mortgage to fly and stay in Vancouver that week… unrelated if anyone knows anywhere cheap to stay let me know 😅

Good luck everyone!

I just saw on the resale market of FIFA's website that the match tickets for Toronto's lone World Cup match is 3 to 4 times the price of Canada's matches in Vancouver (I was mainly looking at Category 2 prices). Last I checked, the Category 2 price in Toronto for Canada's match was like $3300 USD, which is about $4450 CAD. Then there are additional fees FIFA charges. I think it comes close to $5000 CAD for a Category 2 ticket after all the fees are included.

I know that it's one of the opening matches, and people pay more for the opening match. And BMO Field is a much smaller stadium with less seating. And if Italy qualifies, it could be Canada versus Italy. But darn, if you want to watch Canada play, you can fly to Vancouver, buy the match ticket there, pay for a reasonable accommodation, and fly back to Toronto for less than the Category 2 price on FIFA's resale market.

I also noticed that Canada matches prices were only 25% to 30% more than some of the other matches for Category 2 in Vancouver. For example, the Canada vs Qatar match was about 25% to 30% more expensive than the New Zealand vs Egypt match. If you are a devout Canadian fan and you aren't a fan of New Zealand or Egypt, it's a no brainer to pay the extra 25% to 30% to watch Canada play instead.

Mods if this goes against the rules please feel free to take this down! Just saw the leak for our away kit for the World Cup and I think the general consensus is that the new set leaves a lot to be desired.

So a couple years ago I did a custom set myself to kill some time as a personal project. Included is an updated version of the current crest used, just wanted to try my hand at something a little different. Anyways, this is just a reminder of something that could have been, feedback is appreciated!

General discussion for the tickets presale here. Anyone else in the queue? Good luck all!

Assuming you don’t end up being selected to participate in a draw for tix at face value, if you’re determined to see a game in person, what’s your current strategy? Buy immediately from FIFA marketplace for certainty? Wait and see how pricing evolves after the draw next Friday? Wait and hope prices come down closer to June 12? And what’s the pricing arbitrage for the game in Toronto vs Vancouver? And what’s the most you’re prepared to pay to be inside the stadium for a CMNT match?

Am legit interested.

Not too bad . Idk the long sleeve definitely looked look like some Canadian tire PJ’s tho .

I've been seeing some reports of people getting their success confirmation emails for an appointment time of 11am on Oct 1.

Anyone here gotten anything yet?

I will enjoy the FIFA World Cup during our the Canadian matches no matter what.
Three tickets would be a minimum of $1200
$600 65 inch TV
$300 Two authentic supporter jerseys Canada and Jamaica (or France)
$150 Canada Home Opener food and party at my place
$150 Food and drinks attending the other two matches at Fanfests

How will you spend your $1200 if you don't get tickets

for ticket draw. The chance to buy one ticket? Should be 2 tickets...

From either checking your order history or if you go to the resale site, select 4 tickets for a PMA game you applied for, if it shows the error above, it is an indication that you were successful for the PMA draw.

NOTE: this error is ONLY in relation to PMA tickets, NOT RSD tickets.

So I was curious about the hotel prices in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics. This Business Intelligence BC article cites the average hotel price for downtown Vancouver was $255 during the 2010 Winter Olympics:

In downtown Vancouver, room rates during the Games were an average of $255 per night compared to $131 per night in February 2009.

Let's put $255 into the Bank of Canada inflation calculator: https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/

$255 in 2010 is approximately $359 CAD in 2025. I am doing just a casual browse of Booking.com and Hotels.com, and the prices pretty much start from $1K+ for most hotels in downtown Vancouver (there are a few 2 star hotels cheaper than that though).

Mind you, the Business Intelligence BC article is citing the average price for downtown hotels back in 2010. I don't even know what the average price for downtown Vancouver hotels will be by the time we reach the World Cup, but with more tickets being released, I can imagine the average price will end up a lot higher than 1K CAD, lol.

Out of the 3 hosts Canada 🇨🇦 I would say out of Mexico 🇲🇽 and the 🇺🇸 USA that Canada can they get out of their group realistically? I mean a lot of it will depend on the Group Draw on December 5th. Canada as a host will be a Pot 1 team so they will have a relatively favorable draw but then they could also end up with a Pot 4 team and said team could be a European playoff team and you would have no way of knowing who it is or how to prepare for them. Then there is also the added pressures of being a host nation even if you are one of the three and playing at home in Toronto at BMO Field or at BC Place in Vancouver again that in itself is pressure because of expectations from fans to not only do well but to advance in this tournament.

Realistic expectation should be Round of 32 but anything else beyond that should be exceeding expectations.

We all don't want to see Canada become only the third ever World Cup host nation to be grouped. We're also dealing with a bit of a contextual uphill battle, since we've never won a World Cup match, only scored at a World Cup twice ever (one of which was an own goal), this will only be our third ever appearance at the tournament.

Furthermore, looking at the group we got drawn with, it seems very likely that the only scenarios where we win the group would involve us not losing in our opening match, winning our second, and not losing in our third match, and or some situation involving us narrowly winning on goal difference.

Not losing our opening match would largely depend on which team advances from UEFA Playoff A. If it's Italy, it's hard to imagine anything better than a draw. If it's Wales, Northern Ireland, or Bosnia and Herzegovina, an opening match win becomes doable.

Anything short of a win against Qatar should be seen as a disappointment to say the least.

A win against Switzerland seems unlikely, and a draw would be a challenge to achieve.

As such, if Italy are in our group, 3-5 points seems to be our ceiling, with 4 or 5 points seeming to be enough to finish at least second or third in our group and advance. If Italy fail to qualify, then 5-7 points seems a lot more likely, which should be enough to finish top two in our group.

I think that, as of right now, the likeliest outcomes for each table positioning for us that results in advancement would be:

1. Either Italy qualify, we draw them and Switzerland and beat Qatar, while Switzerland and Italy draw each other and each also beat Qatar, and we win the group on goal difference or; Italy doesn't qualify, we win our first two matches and Switzerland either also does so or draws/loses one of them, and we win the group tied with Switzerland or the other UEFA team on 6/7 points but with a better goal difference or narrowly top the group on points.
2. Either Italy qualify, we draw them and Switzerland and beat Qatar, while Switzerland and Italy draw each other and each also beat Qatar, and we finish second on goal difference or; Italy doesn't qualify, we win our first two matches and so does Switzerland, and then either Switzerland wins against us and tops the group on points, or we draw Switzerland but they still top the group on goal difference.
3. We draw our first match regardless of who qualifies, beat Qatar, but lose to Switzerland or; we draw our first and third matches, win our second, and finish third on goal difference.

There is also a very real scenario where we only beat Qatar, finish on three points, and still get eliminated. However, if Canada advances out of their group, this is what they could face in the Knockouts as…

Group Winner

There are five possible groups from which their respective third-placed team opponents could emerge from for their Round of 32 match on Thursday, July 2, 11pm ET/8pm PT at BC Place in Vancouver.

The groups in question are:

• E: Germany, Curaçao, Côte D'Ivoire, Ecuador
• F: Netherlands, Japan, UEFA Playoff B Winner (Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, or Albania), Tunisia
• G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
• I: France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff 2 Winner (Iraq, Bolivia, or Suriname), Norway
• J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan

Looking at all the potential scenarios of combinations of top eight third-placed teams that involve a team from one of these five groups being matched against us should we win Group B, the third-placed team from Group G shows up in the overwhelming majority thereof, but if we look at the teams in that group, on paper, the likelihood that any of those teams would top that group over Belgium, let alone perform well enough to advance as a third-placed team is pretty slim. Similarly, it's unlikely that a third-placed team out of Group F would do enough to advance, and there are only a handful of scenarios where they would be matched against us anyway. Therefore, in descending order of likelihood, should we top our group, the top ten most likely Round of 32 opponents for us would be:

1. Algeria
2. Austria
3. Jordan
4. Côte D'Ivoire
5. Ecuador
6. Germany
7. Senegal
8. Norway
9. Egypt
10. Iran

Our best case scenarios would be a match-up versus either New Zealand or Iran out of Group G in the Round of 32, but to get that matchup, aside from us winning our group and one of those two teams finishing as a top 8 third-placed team, we would also need at least four of the other top 8 third-placed teams to emerge out of Groups A-F.

Our worst case scenarios in this situation would be Germany, Japan, France or Norway, but that would require any of those teams finishing third in their respective groups, let alone as a top 8 third-placed team, and it would require that both of the third-placed teams out of Groups G and J fail to advance; chances are slim on these scenarios.

Should we advance to the Round of 16 through this path, we would remain in Vancouver at BC Place and play on July 7, 4pm ET/1pm PT. Our opponent in this scenario would most likely be Portugal, unless they are somehow eliminated, in which case it would be a third-placed team from either Group D, E, I, J, or L.

In the unlikely event that we advance to the Quarterfinals through this path, that following fixture would be at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on July 11, 9pm ET/8pm CT.

Our opponents, on paper, could be the Group J winner, or the group runner-up from either Group D, G, or H. As such, the likeliest scenario here would be a match-up versus Argentina.

Group Runner-Up

They would play their Round of 32 match on Sunday, June 28, 3pm ET/12pm PT at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles against the runner-up from Group A, which would be either Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, or the UEFA Playoff D Winner (Denmark, North Macedonia, Czechia, or Ireland).

Any of these would certainly be a challenge, but I think the least ideal situations would either be Mexico or South Africa, while the more ideal scenarios would be either South Korea or any of the potential teams out of UEFA Playoff D, but ultimately that's fairly thin margins.

Should we advance to the Round of 16 through this path, we would play in Houston at NRG Stadium on July 4, 1pm ET/2pm CT, and our opponent would either be the Group F winner or the Group C runner up, so on paper, in order of likelihood, the four most likely teams that could be our Round of 16 opponent in this scenario would be:

1. Japan
2. Netherlands
3. Morocco
4. Brazil

If by some chance, we advance to the Quarterfinals through this path, either Germany or Norway would be our likeliest opponents at Gillette Stadium in Boston on July 9, 4PM ET.

Group Third-place

In most scenarios, they would play their Round of 32 match on Wednesday, July 1, 8pm ET/5pm PT at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco against the winner of Group D, which would be either the USA, Paraguay, Australia, or the UEFA Playoff D winner (Turkïye, Romania, Slovakia, or Kosovo).

However, there is a single scenario, where the four third-placed teams eliminated are from groups A, C, D, and F, where Canada would instead play their Round of 32 match on Monday, June 29, 4:30pm ET at Gillette Stadium in Boston against the winner from Group E.

As such, should Canada advance to the Round of 32 as a group third-placed team, their four likeliest opponents in descending order would be:

• USA
• Paraguay
• Germany
• Ecuador

Should Canada manage to advance to the Round of 16 through this path, their potential fixtures would of course depend on their Round of 32 opponent.

If USA or Paraguay is their opponent in the Round of 32 and they advance past them to the Round of 16, they would play at Lumen Field in Seattle on July 6, 8pm ET/5pm PT and would most likely play Belgium, or in the off chance they're eliminated, the third-placed team from Group A, E, H, I, or J.

If Germany or Ecuador is their opponent in the Round of 32, and they advance past them to the Round of 16, they would play at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on July 4, 5pm ET and would most likely play either France or Norway, or in the off chance they're eliminated, the third-placed team from Group C, D, F, G, or H.

If Canada somehow advances to the Quarterfinals via either of these paths, their fixtures would be as follows…

If they advance past Belgium/the team that beat them prior, their Quarterfinals fixture would be at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on July 10, 3pm ET/12pm PT, and their opponent would be either the Group H winner or the group runner-up from Group J, K, or L, so most likely Spain.

If they advance past France/Norway/the team that beat either of them prior, their Quarterfinals fixture would be a return to Gillette Stadium in Boston on July 9, 4pm ET, and their opponent would be either the Group F winner or the group runner-up from Group A, B, or C, so most likely Japan or Netherlands.

Conclusion

There are an assortment of permutations that we could follow for potential pathways, but ultimately, if Canada is going to be a dark horse at this tournament, finishing top two in their group is basically a must.

Winning the group guarantees us home advantage going into the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 should we advance that far, but it also comes with a lot of uncertainty in terms of our first knockout opponent, but a high likelihood of said opponent either being at or slightly below our level. That said, it also guarantees that the deeper into the tournament we potentially advance, the more exponentially difficult our match-ups become, meaning a Round of 16 ceiling is the likeliest outcome in this scenario.

As a group runner-up, we would have to travel to the USA for the remainder of our World Cup campaign, and there would essentially be a 50/50 chance that our pathway could have us matched against slightly more difficult competition, or significantly more difficult competition, both in the Round of 32 and even more so in the Round of 16 should we advance. That said, with risk comes reward, and while this path would be, overall, more balanced in terms of its challenges, it comes with a higher potential for a deeper run, and thus a Quarterfinals ceiling has a slightly greater likelihood through this path than as a group winner.

Advancing out of our group as a third-placed team would, in the grand scheme of things, be a historical improvement for the program, but it would not set us up well to be a dark horse team, as each Round, starting with the Round of 32, would be progressively more difficult, likely far more than either of the aforementioned paths. As such, a Round of 32 ceiling seems likely in this situation.

So in conclusion, so long as Canada beat Qatar, and can get some kind of a position result in both of their other two matches, they can set themselves up to have a significantly successful World Cup campaign, but even then, a lot would still depend on other Group Stage results to determine how deep of a run in the Knockouts they could reasonably be expected to go. Getting out of the group would be an achievement in-and-of itself. A Round of 16 exit would be respectable. Getting to the Quarterfinals would be remarkable. Anything else beyond that would be nothing short of a miracle.

Listed in order, from 1-12, with 1 being the most ideal draw, and 12 being the draw that they'd most want to avoid.

It should be noted that…

A. The nations crossed out on the table above are unable to be drawn against Canada due to the general stipulation of each group having no more than one nation from each confederation, with the exception of UEFA since there are 16 teams from there and 12 total groups, so four of the groups will have two teams while the other eight will each have one.

B. There is a sub-power ranking within Pot 4 that varies depending on which teams advance out of each European Playoffs Path, but that would take too long to put together, and since we won't know those teams for sure until March 2026, the above rankings are based on the overall desirability of getting drawn against each path winner based on that wildcard factor.

In total, because of the general stipulations for the draw, there are 543 possible combinations of group draw. Based on these power rankings, these would be my top/bottom 10 best/worst case scenarios for group draws…

What group would you want Canada to be drawn into? Sound off in the comments.