Sports

Canada soccer fans march prior to a World Cup Group B soccer match, against Qatar in Vancouver, on Thursday, June 18, 2026.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Canada's World Cup fans in Vancouver paint the town red

By The Canadian Press

Published 4:05 PDT, Thu June 18, 2026

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It's game on in Vancouver after Canada fans flooded the streets and BC Place Stadium before kickoff in the city's first home-team match of the 2026 World Cup.

The "last mile" walk to the stadium was a sea of red as the Voyageurs supporters' group set off on its pre-game march, blowing trumpets, beating drums and waving flags and smoke canisters ahead of the match against Qatar.

Inside the arena, Canada fans heeded the call to wear red as they filled the stadium, although pockets of the lower bowl turned white due to the flowing robes worn by Qatari fans.

It's overwhelmingly loud inside the arena, where it looks like a capacity crowd, as screaming Canada fans hit 149 decibels just before the 3 p.m. kickoff, according to the big screen.

Prime Minister Mark Carney also attended the match and was seen sitting beside Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA.

It also looks like a full house in the PNE amphitheatre at the FIFA Fan Festival in East Vancouver, where total tournament attendance is set to surge past the 100,000 mark today, after hitting 98,000 on Wednesday.

Canada fan Duncan Mackey is taking the instruction to wear red to the extreme, getting his teenage son and his friends to paint his bald head in the home team's colour.

He was on the Voyageurs' march and says the atmosphere was "phenomenal."

"It's not that often when you see 10,000 people in red, all walking together, so it's good to see," he says.

Mackey, from Lethbridge, Alta., says he's impressed by how Vancouver has "come alive" for the World Cup, where Canada's men's team is hoping for its first win in finals history after a draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina last week.

Noor Kamel says she's originally from Yemen and will be sitting with Qatar's fans, but Canada is also "in my heart."

The former Vancouver resident, who used to live in Qatar but now lives in Burnaby, says she scored a free ticket to the match in a lottery by Qatari authorities.

Dressed with a Qatari flag as a sash, she says she's more interested in "the vibe and to celebrate diversity."

"I'll cheer for both, Canada and Qatar. It's a game at the end of the day," she says, adding that she was "so proud" of Vancouver's performance hosting the World Cup.

"Good luck for all the teams, actually," she says, calling the tournament "a celebration for the world."

Qatar's fans had staged a small-but-vocal supporters' march on Wednesday evening, chanting to the beat of traditional darbuka drums as they set off from a hotel near the stadium.

In the hours before kickoff, FIFA's official resale platform had been showing tickets were still available with prices starting around $1,000, but those without tickets headed to the fan festival at Hastings Park and other watch parties around Metro Vancouver.

Toronto's FIFA Fan Festival ran into another weather-related problem on Thursday, with organizers saying the site wouldn't open until two hours before kickoff because more time was needed to prepare following recent severe weather.

There was significant rain and thunderstorms overnight. Fans were evacuated last Thursday on the first day of the tournament because of a lightning threat, and the site also opened late on Sunday because of thunderstorm concerns.

The Qatar match is the second of seven World Cup matches at BC Place after the stadium's tournament debut on Saturday between Australia and Turkey.

New Zealand will play Egypt on Sunday in the next match at BC Place, before Canada's final group-stage encounter against Switzerland next Wednesday.