In Toronto’s Little Italy, fans line up to swap jerseys and embrace Team Canada

TORONTO — Fans of Italy’s national soccer team may be disappointed their team won’t be in the 2026 World Cup, but at least some of them got a consolation prize.

More than 100 fans lined up outside Café Diplomatico on a grey Toronto morning for a Canada Soccer jersey swap targeting the city’s Italian-Canadian community, and the jerseys were gone in under 30 minutes.

Part of Canada Soccer’s new World Cup brand campaign, “Our Game Now,” the premise was simple: bring your Italy jersey, get a Canadian one.

In the end, those who got jerseys didn’t have to give theirs up.

“This is not about taking off a jersey. It’s about putting one on.” said Paulo Senra, Canada Soccer’s chief communications and content officer.

When fans in line learned they’d be keeping their Italian kits, the reaction caught even the organizers off guard.

“A couple of them even started to cry,” Senra said. “There was one lady in line that I actually hugged. It really felt like she was like my mom.”

Canada Soccer announced the event after the Italian team lost a chance to qualify for World Cup 2026, being hosted in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, after a surprising loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina earlier this week.

Alessandra Miceli, born in Canada to Italian parents, said she came out knowing she probably should support the host nation, even if it stung a little.

“It was really nice to come and then find out that we got to keep our own jerseys,” she said.

It was her first Canada jersey. When asked whether she’d back Italy or Canada if the two ever met at a World Cup, she didn’t pick a side. And it could have been a reality. Had Italy qualified, they would have opened the tournament against Canada in Toronto.

“I’d probably wear red and blue,” she said. “I wouldn’t take full support for one over the other.”

For many of the fans who turned out, the swap wasn’t a difficult ask. Amil Ivascu has supported Italy for 28 years because of his Italian wife, but he and his son David still came out. They walked away with the final jersey while still holding onto their Italian kits.

The pair was split on who’d they would cheer for in a head-to-head match. David said he’d support Canada. His father, after a long pause, laughed and said he would stick with Italy.

Raymond Chang has watched soccer for 50 years. He’s not Italian-Canadian, he just loves the game and loved watching Italy play. He heard about the event online the night before.

“I really wanted to see Italy get into the World Cup,” he said. “I’m very disappointed they didn’t get in.”

He was happy to take part in the swap.

“I was very excited to have this type of thing,” he said, though he also didn’t have to give up his Italian kit.

While it was all smiles at the grey event, the online reaction to the promotion wasn’t so sunny.

Some critics took issue with the concept on social media, saying it was “ostracizing” and “disrespectful.” Some even wished humiliation on Team Canada during the World Cup.

Senra said the organization anticipated a range of responses and emphasized the campaign was meant as an invitation, not a rejection of long-held loyalties.

“It’s very rare to be in a country like ours where you’re allowed to have multiple homes in your hearts,” he said.

“People have a tremendous amount of history with their home teams,” he said. “Today is not about putting that away, it’s about putting on a jersey and really embracing the globalism, the diversity of this country and also this game.”

By the time the jerseys ran out, Canada Soccer was handing out scarves, hats and 500 posters to the fans still in line.

Noah Brown, 13, had been standing at the back of the queue with his mom, Karen, when it opened and said he wasn’t sure he’d make it. They each walked away with a jersey and smile.

Sandra Ezekwesili, The Canadian Press