Fans honour Koné at Canada-Switzerland match in Vancouver

VANCOUVER — It’s game on in Vancouver, after kickoff in Team Canada’s crucial match against Switzerland at BC Place Stadium.

A massive crowd of Canada supporters, who were led by five flag-draped Vancouver police horses, marched to the stadium ahead of the noon kickoff, chanting and singing their way down the “last mile” walk.

Many were waving No. 8 posters to honour injured Canadian midfielder Ismaël Koné, who suffered a broken leg in last week’s Qatar match, and they held them aloft again in the stadium during the national anthem.

There’s much on the line for fans today, including whether Canada gets to enjoy a home-turf advantage in Vancouver again in the knockout rounds.

While Canada is all but certain of reaching the knockout phase after its 6-0 rout of Qatar last Thursday, a win or draw against Switzerland would keep the team on top of the group and bring them back to Vancouver on July 2.

Head coach Jesse Marsch has said he expects to bring captain Alphonso Davies on at some stage today for his tournament debut, after he was absent from Canada’s first two group-stage matches due to a hamstring injury.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, wrapped in a flag, was part of the supporters march, while Prime Minister Mark Carney, who attended the Qatar game, is at today’s match too.

The huge pre-game marches in Toronto and Vancouver, organized by the Voyageurs fan group, have become a phenomenon as the tournament progresses.

Today’s featured fans doing the Canadian canoe row, which appears to have been inspired by the viral Viking row practised by Norwegian fans.

The Canadian version is one-sided and can be enjoyed standing as if paddling a canoe, while the Norwegian double-sided version is usually done while seated.

Canadian fan Steven Figner from Port Moody, B.C., said he was about to watch his first men’s World Cup match — but in 2015 he watched the national women’s team defeat the Swiss at BC Place to advance to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup.

He’s hoping for a draw today “at a minimum.”

“This place is going to rock,” he added.

Brother and sister Abby and Robert Swannell flew in from Winnipeg for the match, where the crowd erupted as the Canadian team took to the pitch to warm up, Davies among them.

“The atmosphere in the entire city for the tournament is amazing,” Robert Swannell said.

The tournament had brought everyone together, for something “we can all be part of,” Abby Swannell added.

It’s safe to say the Swiss fans will be outnumbered by Canada supporters in BC Place Stadium but it’s hard to tell visually.

Both contingents are dressed primarily in red and white, the national colours of both Canada and Switzerland, as they flood into the stadium.

Visiting Swiss fan Peter Sprenger, from Basel, said it didn’t matter if his compatriots were in the minority because “the whole stadium is going to be red.”

The first-time visitor to Vancouver has been following the Swiss team, attending matches in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but Vancouver was “the best city,” he said.

Switzerland’s consulate general in Vancouver has been telling Swiss fans on social media to have their red shirts ready, flags packed and “cowbells polished,” while urging their team on in trilingual fashion: “Hopp Schwiiz! Hop Suisse! Forza Svizzera!”

Fifteen-year-old Matthew Ring from Vancouver was in the front row at the city’s FIFA Fan Festival for the second Canada match in a row.

He and his boisterous friends featured in news footage of Canada’s defeat of Qatar and they were back for more, pressed up against the railing in front of the big screen at the PNE amphitheatre. He said he got up at 6:30 a.m. and queued for hours to get his prime position.

“Because I love Canada so much,” said Ring.

It’s the fourth match at BC Place, with the next game involving New Zealand and Belgium on Friday, before the round-of-32 knockout match on July 2, then a round-of-16 knockout on July 7.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois and Nono Shen, The Canadian Press