Good Friday morning Caps fans. I hope you all are having a lovely week and that you’re gearing up for the weekend ahead.
This weekend will be heavy on World Cup viewing in our household. As I write this, we are just hours away from Canada kicking off their World Cup campaign in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The unlucky run of injuries has dampened some of the excitement about this team and understandably so — Canada will be without some of its best players, and the fitness status of star Alphonso Davies remains uncertain, though we know he won’t feature against Bosnia later today.
Still, four years after landing in the group of death, Canada will not have nearly the same trouble here. Four points from the Qatar and Bosnia matches would likely be enough to send them through, though this team still has the quality to win both of those games and give Switzerland a tough time in their final group stage match. There are certainly no pushovers (Bosnia in particular could surprise some people) but the home field advantage will also help give Canada the edge.
Beyond that, any progress in the knockout rounds will likely be gravy, though Canada will want to aim higher after a successful run in the Copa America in 2024.
After all of the politics and scandal surrounding this tournament (all of which has prompted deserved revulsion), I am still excited. Seeing how the diaspora fanbases and communities have responded to having their teams in North America has been really cool. And, at the end of the day, it’s the World Cup. History will be made, stars will be born, and the world for one month will revolve around this sport we love.
In a bit of club news, there was another meeting between various local and provincial stakeholders and MLS earlier this week. Mayor Ken Sim’s statement was positive; the Caps’ was pure corporatese. While it is good news that these meetings are continuing and things seem to be headed in the right direction, I’m not getting my hopes up until there’s a more concrete announcement. Still, given the attention that Canada will be getting over the next month, you’d hope everyone would want some positive press and optimistic headlines. Get a stadium deal done and that would be accomplished.
Shameless Self Promotion
A timely story on why the 2026 Canadian team is built different when compared with past sides.
Best of the Rest
Ralph Priso did not train earlier this week due to a muscle issue, jeopardizing his potential to be Moise Bombito’s replacement in the squad.
Former Caps man In-Beom Hwang turned in a man of the match performance, with his goal and assist leading South Korea to a 2-1 win over Czechia.
If you’re looking to watch the World Cup outside the comfort of your own home, here are the best non BC Place spots in Vancouver.
More on the latest on the stadium talks and where things hopefully will head from here.
MLS NEXT Pro is not stopping for the World Cup, with the Whitecaps 2 side picking up a 1-1 draw (and shootout win) in north Texas this week.
some may be wondering why 3- thats right 3- First Nations are getting involved and, in fact, were present at the secret meetings this week- Musqueam, Squamish and Tselei-Waututh
i can understand the Waututh involvement as they have a casino lease at Hastings Park North- and they want to expand the casino as some type of development (stadium? hotel, businesses, maybe residential) will replace theformer race track and its facilities
the other 2 were a mystery, but i have found out why as i did some digging after a meeting report came out this week- and all has to do with other potential stadium sites- others probably knew about this, but i didnt- it might also cause the 3 First Nations to invest in the new ownership group for the Whitecaps
one prominent site is the huge North-East area of False Creek, a cultural and historical site for the 3 First Nations- you can look for the 2018 report called the ‘Indigenous Engagement Summary Report’ which talked about the North-East area of False Creek, an area that is increasingly getting into the news
bit-by-bit, we are getting positive news and i have always believed that the Whitecaps will stay in Vancouver- i expect some positive news about a new BC Place Stadium lease
Salty