00:06Located on Canada's western shores, close to the border with the United States,
00:11Vancouver is consistently ranked among the most livable cities in the world.
00:18It is one of two Canadian cities to host matches during the 2026 World Cup,
00:23with the 55,000 capacity Vancouver Stadium, the northernmost of the 16 venues in use during the tournament.
00:32Hello everybody, tonight here from the beautiful city of Vancouver in Canada,
00:40in this fantastic stadium, one of the FIFA World Cup stadiums.
00:46World Cup 2026 is coming to Canada, to the United States and to Mexico,
00:52and it's coming to Vancouver as well.
00:55I've had the chance to visit the stadium today, it's really fantastic,
01:00a lot of work as well going on to make it even more beautiful,
01:0355,000 fans will fill the stadium during the World Cup.
01:11Opened in 1983, the venue known commercially as BC Place,
01:16has been the main stadium for the 2010 Winter Olympics,
01:18and hosted the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final.
01:25The venue is currently the home of the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League,
01:30Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer,
01:33and the annual Canada Sevens rugby event.
01:37Vancouver Stadium set the record for the largest crowd to witness a Canadian national team back in 2015,
01:43when more than 53,000 spectators saw the women's team defeat Switzerland in the World Cup round of 16.
01:52Really impressed with, one, the support of BC Place, I mean, that was brilliant today.
01:57We're walking out in front of 50-odd thousand people, I mean, who would have thought it for women's football.
02:02It was just one of those surreal days, I think, for the staff and players.
02:08It was incredible, especially, you know, when we put that ball away and scored.
02:14It was one of the loudest stadiums I've ever been a part of.
02:19Hearing the national anthem, it's one of the few times on a soccer field where I've almost shed a tear.
02:24It was just a very proud moment.
02:26Vancouver Stadium will host seven matches and act as home base for the Canadian national team.
02:33Two of the five group stage matches at the venue will be home games for Canada.
02:38And the two knockout stage matches, one in the round of 32 and another in the round of 16,
02:44are designed to feature Canada, should they win Group B and progress that far.
02:49I had the pleasure to meet the Minister of Sport of Canada, the Mayor of Vancouver,
02:56two exceptional persons, the whole team of the host city in Vancouver, fantastic people,
03:03a football or soccer city, and I'm looking forward already now to the World Cup in 2026.
03:11Take care, see you soon in Vancouver and all around North America.
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