— j.j. adams, oksana shtohryn
farya amiri, left, from vancouver brought her mother rezvan kargosha to canada soccer house where kargosha sports a new canada shirt, a gift from her daughter.
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11:16 a.m.: fans enjoy ‘electric’ atmosphere downtown and inside stadium
when approached, brothers arthur and leo szabo were juggling a soccer ball in the middle of granville, shirtless with the canadian flag painted across their chests.
“look around — there’s so many people, it’s lively,” said arthur, a university of b.c. student from bowen island, b.c.
leo, a diehard footy fan, came for the buzz. “it’s electric down here,” he said. “if we win this game, the scenes are gonna be unreal.”
brothers leo, centre, and arthur szabo, left, of bowen island juggle a soccer ball on granville street in vancouver, their chests painted with the canadian flag.
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meanwhile, the canadian team comes out to loud cheers in a quarter-full b.c. place stadium, but the loudest cheers are reserved for ismaël kone, who is pushed down the sideline in a wheelchair.
he waves to the crowd, and the ovation is loud and massive from the canadian fans, many of whom marched to the stadium with giant cut out head pictures of him.
vancouver fire chief karen fry, right, with deputy chief scott hendrickson are pictured on the last mile near science world on wednesday ahead of the canada-switzerland world cup 2026 match.
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just outside the stadium, vancouver fire chief karen fry and deputy chief scott hendrickson watched over the crowds on the last mile.
fry says other than the fans who smuggled a smoke bomb into last sunday’s egypt-new zealand match at b.c. place, fans have mostly been “behaving and having fun and showing why vancouver’s the best host city.”
— lori culbert, j.j. adams, dan fumano, oksana shtohryn
11 a.m.: anticipation builds at fan zones across metro vancouver
fans can be seen lining up to buy canada soccer jerseys in north vancouver at the canada soccer house fan zone.
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iani makris pulled his daughters nefeli, 5, and two-year-old maelle out of school wednesday to bring them to canada soccer house, which was nearing its 5,000-person capacity an hour before kickoff.
nefeli makris, 5, (left) and her two-year-old sister maelle are pictured with dad iani at canada soccer house in north vancouver.
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“i think it’s special for them to see. this is a once in a life time experience,” said makris, who attended the world cup in brazil. “if canada gets to the round of 32, it’s going to be very special. growing up, canada has never had a good team.”
but the lifelong soccer fan has high hopes for the home team this year.
donna and donald balanecki cheering on team canada at canada soccer house in north vancouver.
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