Australia, Switzerland and Qatar are coming to Vancouver for 2026 FIFA World Cup
Canada found out its opponents for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Well, two of them, anyway.
The FIFA World Cup draw determined that Canada will compete in Group B, along with Switzerland and Qatar.
Switzerland is ranked 17th in the world by FIFA, while Qatar is ranked 51st. Canada is currently ranked 27th.
A fourth country will join the group, but we don’t yet know who.
It’s guaranteed to be a country from Europe, determined by UEFA playoff A in late March: Italy (ranked 12th), Wales (32nd), Northern Ireland (69th), or Bosnia and Herzegovina (71st).
The groups are set. (FIFA)
BC Place will host seven matches during the FIFA World Cup, including two group-stage matches involving Canada. Those matches are now set, with Canada playing Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.
Canada’s other group-stage match will be held in Toronto on June 12.
Non-Canada matches being held in Vancouver
Vancouver will host seven FIFA World Cup matches in total, including two knockout-round games, in the round of 32 and the round of 16.
FIFA is set to unveil the full group-stage schedule on Saturday morning, where we’ll find out which countries will feature in the other three group-stage matches at BC Place on June 13, 21, and 26.
But through deductive reasoning, we now know that Australia will play in Vancouver.
The June 13 match will feature countries from Group D, which includes USA, Paraguay, Australia, and a European playoff winner. With USA and Paraguay playing the day before (June 12) in Los Angeles, that leaves Australia and the yet-to-be-determined European team to play at BC Place.
The European playoff winner in Group D will be either Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Türkiye.
Group matches @ BC Place:
June 13th: Australia v Slovakia/Kosovo/Turkey/Romania Winner
June 18th: Canada v Qatar
June 21st: Belgium v Iran or New Zealand v Egypt
June 24th: Canada v Switzerland
June 26th: New Zealand v Belgium or Egypt v Iran— Bik Nizzar (@BikNizzar) December 5, 2025
The Vancouver matches on June 21 and 26 will both feature teams from Group G, though the precise matchups aren’t set yet. Group G consists of Belgium, Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand — so expect three of those countries to come to Vancouver.