'A Private Party with Public Money’ Canada spent one billion dollars hosting 13 matches – was it worth it?

TORONTO, ONTARIO - JUNE 12: A general view as Elyanna and Jessie Reyez perform during the Opening Ceremony before the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B match between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina at Toronto Stadium on June 12, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images).

Just like that, it's gone. Toronto’s World Cup is over.

Not long before a young Alphonso Davies took the stage in 2018 to tell the FIFA World Congress why Canada would be a suitable host country, it was almost impossible to think the tournament would come to the Great White North.