00:04Located on Canada's western shores, close to the border with the United States,
00:09Vancouver is consistently ranked among the most livable cities in the world.
00:17It is one of two Canadian cities to host matches during the 2026 World Cup,
00:21with the 55,000 capacity Vancouver Stadium,
00:25the northernmost of the 16 venues in use during the tournament.
00:30Hello, everybody. Tonight here from the beautiful city of Vancouver in Canada,
00:38in this fantastic stadium, one of the FIFA World Cup stadiums.
00:44World Cup 2026 is coming to Canada, to the United States, and to Mexico,
00:51and it's coming to Vancouver as well.
00:53I've had the chance to visit the stadium today.
00:56It's really fantastic. A lot of work as well going on to make it even more beautiful.
01:0255,000 fans will fill the stadium during the World Cup.
01:09Opened in 1983, the venue, known commercially as BC Place,
01:14has been the main stadium for the 2010 Winter Olympics,
01:17and hosted the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final.
01:24The venue is currently the home of the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League,
01:29Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer,
01:31and the annual Canada Sevens rugby event.
01:35Vancouver Stadium set the record for the largest crowd to witness a Canadian national team back in 2015,
01:42when more than 53,000 spectators saw the women's team defeat Switzerland in the World Cup round of 16.
01:50Really impressed with, one, the support of BC Place.
01:54I mean, that was brilliant today.
01:56We're walking out in front of 50-odd thousand people.
01:58I mean, who would have thought it for women's football?
02:00It was just one of those surreal days, I think, for the staff and players.
02:07It was incredible, especially, you know, when we put that ball away and scored.
02:12It's one of the loudest stadiums I've ever been a part of.
02:17Hearing the national anthem, it's one of the few times on a soccer field
02:21where I've almost shed a tear. Just a very proud moment.
02:25Vancouver Stadium will host seven matches
02:28and act as home base for the Canadian national team.
02:31Two of the five group stage matches at the venue will be home games for Canada.
02:36And the two knockout stage matches, one in the round of 32 and another in the round of 16,
02:42are designed to feature Canada, should they win Group B and progress that far.
02:48I had the pleasure to meet the Minister of Sport of Canada, the Mayor of Vancouver,
02:54two exceptional persons, the whole team of the host city in Vancouver.
03:00Fantastic people, a football or soccer city.
03:04And I'm looking forward already now to the World Cup in 2026.
03:09Take care. See you soon in Vancouver and all around North America.
Comments