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VANCOUVER — First came the feast, as Canada’s World Cup team gorged on goals against Qatar in BC Place Stadium.
Then came the party.
Fans at the arena in Vancouver and at watch parties across the country erupted after Thursday’s historic 6-0 win, the first for Canada’s men’s team at a World Cup.
It was a result beyond most fans’ expectations. Longtime supporters said it was beyond their dreams.
Joshua Walters, who lives 10 minutes from the stadium, said he predicted the match would give Canada three points after a draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina last week.
But the 6-0 win against Qatar was “unbelievable,” he said.
“This is a crazy win,” he said. “Monumental win. Historic victory.”
Vancouver draped itself in red for its first home-team match of the tournament. The atmosphere was electric — not just in the arena. The entire downtown core was flooded with fans after the final whistle blew.
Before the match, thousands of Canadian fans joined the “last mile” march to the stadium with the Voyageurs supporters group, blowing trumpets, beating drums, and waving flags and smoke canisters.
There was a full house of 52,497 spectators, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, who sat beside FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
It was overwhelmingly loud inside the stadium, where screaming Canada fans hit 149 decibels just before the 3 p.m. kickoff, according to the big screen.
The joy afterwards was mitigated by concern for Canadian midfielder Ismaël Koné, who is to undergo surgery after breaking his left leg during a sickening tackle early in the second half.
Koné was in Carney’s thoughts when he addressed the team in their dressing room. They were sombre as the prime minister spoke of Koné’s “terrible injury” and of his and his teammates’ resolve.
“You showed a level a character that some people never achieve in their life,” Carney said.
The scoreboard rout puts Canada well on course to progress beyond the tournament’s group stage.
“I thought we’d win, but that was special,” said Samir Shah from Vancouver, who was in the stadium with his son Ishan.
He said watching Canada’s first World Cup victory had been on his bucket list.
There was also a packed house in the PNE amphitheatre at the FIFA Fan Festival in East Vancouver, where tournament attendance surged past the 100,000 mark, after hitting 98,000 on Wednesday.
Josh Hatzenbuhler from Toronto called it “the greatest atmosphere I’ve ever been in.”
“I haven’t seen that before with Canada, and it’s just so nice to see them move the ball like that and dominate the game. Amazing,” said Hatzenbuhler, who has played soccer since he was six.
Duncan Mackey, from Lethbridge, Alta., took B.C. Premier David Eby’s instructions 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 marched to the stadium with the Voyageurs and said 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 said.
Granville Street, the entertainment strip that has been pedestrianized for the World Cup and has become party central for fans, was packed shoulder to shoulder after the match.
Qatari Abdullah Alajji, walking through the crowd in his flowing white robes, congratulated Canada on its decisive win, while bemoaning the performance of the team he had flown 16 hours to watch.
“Today was the worst match they’ve played in Qatar history,” he said. “I don’t know what happened today. Something wrong today is happening.”
Burnaby resident Noor Kamel, who used to live in Qatar, said she scored a free ticket to the match in a lottery by Qatari authorities.
While she sat with Qatar’s fans, she said Canada was also “in my heart.”
Dressed with a Qatari flag as a sash, she said before the match that she was more interested in the vibe and celebrating diversity.
“I’ll cheer for both, Canada and Qatar. It’s a game at the end of the day,” she said, adding she was proud of Vancouver’s performance hosting the World Cup.
“Good luck for all the teams, actually,” she added, 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. They were a distinctive presence in the arena, the male supporters in their robes, but were understandably muted as the match unfolded.
Toronto’s FIFA Fan Festival ran into another weather-related problem Thursday, with organizers delaying opening until two hours before kickoff to allow for preparation following recent severe weather.
But the mood was ecstatic in Fort York and at Stackt Market as fans erupted with every goal.
“First win, many more to come though. Switzerland’s next,” said Canada fan Krish Shah at the Fort York FIFA Fan Festival.
“Toronto’s going to keep riding out. Toronto’s going to keep screaming, we’re going to keep singing. Canada’s up,” he said before breaking out into a rehearsed chant alongside his friend, Cholen Premjeyanth.
“It should have been ten,” they sang in unison, referring to the score.
The Canada-Qatar match was 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.
Jesse Kernan, 50, attended Thursday’s match with his 13-year-old son Rolan.
“I’ve been watching soccer, Canadian soccer, for about 40 years and it’s been hard to watch,” he said.
“If you had told me 40 years ago I’d be in the stadium when Canada wins its first World Cup game, I would have laughed.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2026.
— With files by Fatima Raza and Diana Mussina in Toronto
Brieanna Charlebois, Nono Shen and Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
