SIMMONS: How Toronto aced the FIFA World Cup assignment

Дата публикации: 03-07-2026 17:27:44

Who knew how Toronto would handle the World Cup of soccer? We now know: Our city, against all odds, crushed the assignment

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The two men in Croatia jerseys were walking along Front Street late Thursday night when one turned to the other and said rather sadly: “And what do we do now?”

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That rhetorical question seemed apparent all over downtown Toronto, with one of the greatest and most controversial World Cup games ever played on the same night that the FIFA World Cup in Toronto came to an end.

So much excitement. So much angst.

And it’s not unlike when you have the big party at home — You plan it. You invite people. Your order all the food and the trimmings. And then it’s over before you know it.

And all you’re left with is the mess to clean up.

The World Cup came and went in the city and it was over before anyone was ready for it to be over. The first game at BMO Field — or Toronto Stadium, as FIFA called it — had atmosphere unlike anything ever seen before it on Canadian soil. It felt more than big time. It felt once-in-a-lifetime.

And the final of the six games in Toronto was played by the giant Cristiano Ronaldo, by the hugely popular Portugal team, in a game with three goals scored, four goals called back, frenzy everywhere on the pitch and a crowd so emotional it was hard to not feel part of something spectacular.

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I wasn’t sure what the World Cup in Toronto was going to be like. I’m not much of a soccer guy, to be honest. I figured the Team Canada game to start would be special — and it was, not in result as much as it was in atmosphere. And I pretty much figured the final game here, between Portugal and Croatia, would be everything it was built up to be. And it exceeded that.

What was the biggest surprise about hosting?

The surprise to me was the in between. Games between teams and countries I don’t know particularly well or care much about. But the feeling never seemed to change.

Toronto was ready for a party. We had our dancing shoes on. This city with more diversity than almost any other in the world was ready to be part of it.

Never mind how much this cost the taxpayers or how much a mess the leadership of the city seems to make about everything that happens here.

This more than rocked. If it was supposed to be a 8 or 9, it was an 11. And that’s even with the thieves from FIFA charging the enormous prices they were charging — not just for tickets to get in, but for food and drinks once you got there.

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Why this all felt different

I made it a point to walk to the stadium Thursday, in that boiling heat, alongside the parade of Portuguese all dressed in red.

I saw the photos of the Canada walk to the Exhibition Grounds for Game 1 and it looked spectacular. Being part of the walk, even with these temperatures, part of the chanting, part of the dancing, felt spectacular.

It was something I’d never experienced before. And believe me, I’ve experienced a lot.

I have had a blessed career around large events for sport. I’ve been to 18 Olympic Games in 14 different countries. I’ve been to more than 20 Super Bowls and Grey Cups and Stanley Cup finals. I’ve covered more than 50 championship fights.

And yet, nothing like this. Nothing that felt like this. In my own city. With a game I don’t care about, grabbing me and pulling me along for the ride.

Not just me, but you.

And not just you, but people like the aging soccer artist, Ronaldo. On Thursday night he posted on X the word Toronto with a heart emoji beside it. He watched from the balcony of his hotel as the cheering never stopped.

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He may be at the end of the line — he was substituted off against Croatia before the game was decided — but he has played all over the world in every competition that matters. And this one didn’t just matter to him, the place mattered as well.

Toronto has always had a little bit of Sally Field in us as a city: We want to be liked. We want to be noticed. We want to be appreciated.

Ronaldo loves us. For one day anyhow, that has to mean something: He likes us, he really likes us.

Ronaldo’s coach Roberto Martinez expressed his own appreciation of Toronto after the win Thursday night.

“It’s a shame there are not more games here in Toronto,” he said.

You don’t want the party to end.

Not when it’s this good.

Read More

1. 

   FIFA World Cup's 'sexiest fan' slams ref for controversial call in Portugal-Croatia match

2. 

   How Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo feels the Toronto World Cup love and seals it with a kiss

3. 

   Cristiano Ronaldo strikes and Portugal survives a wild World Cup clash with Croatia

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No event is ever perfect. Transportation in this city is forever flawed. Costs are almost always too high, whether it be housing or eating out. But you know a sporting event can stand on its own when it can overcome the issues others have made that it can’t fix.

The World Cup came and left Toronto. Just like that. Team Canada is still playing — at least for another day. There is still something to hold onto.

But, personally, I’ve felt this way before — at the end of the Olympics in Paris, in Sydney, in Lillehammer. You look at each other and say: What do we do now?

Just like the men walking along Front Street late on Thursday night.

ssimmons@postmedia.com

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