Mayor Olivia Chow has declared Toronto’s staging of the 2026 World Cup an “unquestionable success,” despite key details— including how much it cost the city and its impact on the local economy — still to be determined.
At a press conference at city hall on Monday a day after the global soccer tournament came to a close, Chow said Toronto had seized a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” by staging six matches for the hugely popular event. It was held in 16 cities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, with Spain beating Argentina in the final in New Jersey on Sunday.
“This tournament had Toronto buzzing,” Chow said, flanked by municipal officials who helped plan the games. She cited the jubilant scenes when Ghana scored a last-minute winner at Toronto’s stadium, Croatian fans unveiling a massive flag at Dufferin Gate, and the fervent crowds that came out to support Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Over and over again we showed who we are: a place where people from every corner of the world live, work and cheer side by side,” Chow said, noting that Ronaldo himself thanked the city for its support.
“We saw Toronto come alive in a way that was truly special,” she said.
Mayor cites transit, safety as evidence of World Cup success
As evidence of the tournament’s success, the mayor cited high transit ridership and well-managed traffic, and the fact there were no serious security incidents despite the crowds of thousands. She also referenced preliminary data from a poll by city tourism agency Destination Toronto, which found nine in 10 World Cup visitors said they planned to return to the city in the next two years.
This year’s edition of the World Cup was the largest ever, with 48 teams playing 104 matches across the three host nations. The six Toronto games took place between June 12 and July 2, but the city held additional events over the course of the five-and-a-half-week tournament.
About 250,000 people attended matches at BMO Field, 350,000 came to the city-run Fan Festival watch party, and 60,000 took in games at Nathan Phillips Square, according to Chow.
‘Additional expenditures’ may have affected hosting budget
While Chow has vowed that the city wouldn’t exceed its $380 million hosting budget, and reiterated that pledge Monday, city manager Paul Johnson didn’t immediately confirm whether the games had stayed within that envelope. He also didn’t say how the city was able to bridge a $5 million shortfall that opened up the Fan Festival budget after plans to charge for general admission were scrapped.
Staff were “always working to the ($380 million) number,” Johnson told reporters, but there were adjustments during the tournament and “I can’t tell you exactly where it’s going to land.”
Johnson revealed there had been “additional expenditures” during the course of the games. However, he said they were not so significant that they would throw the city “well off” its budget target.
Although he didn’t provide specifics, he said there had been “pressure” from policing costs, which were at least partially addressed by the federal government coming forward in April with $45 million in security funding.
Chow has stressed that the city isn’t paying for the tournament through its property tax base; instead its $180-million share of hosting costs is coming from reserves, a temporary increase to the municipal hotel tax, the sale of commercial rights, fundraising and other sources. The provincial and federal governments are contributing the remaining $200 million in hosting spending.
‘Certain pockets’ of economy got boost from games, others disappointed
Despite robust projections ahead of the tournament about the boost the World Cup would give Toronto’s economy, Johnson said it would take time to determine what effect the games had on area businesses.
An assessment commissioned ahead of the tournament by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, predicted it would generate $940 million in economic output for the Toronto area. But the Greater Toronto Hotel Association has reported room occupancy was lower for some periods of the games than the year before. Similarly, Restaurants Canada said that while bars and restaurants that showed matches or were close to tournament sites enjoyed increased traffic, others didn’t see the influx of spending they had hoped for.
The city manager acknowledged that “certain pockets” of the economy did “extremely well” but others fell short of expectations.
He said that it could take months to analyze the financial and budget data, but staff will work with FIFA to determine the “full story” of how the World Cup went and bring the results to city council.
