"Break the sport into the mainstream." That's the target James Johnson, commissioner of the Canadian Premier League and Group CEO of Canadian Soccer Business, has set for what Canada pulls from co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. It's an ambitious line — but for once, the ingredients actually back it up.
Canada will host World Cup matches for the first time in its history when the expanded 48-team tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. For a country where hockey still dominates the cultural conversation, that's a genuinely rare window. Johnson knows it: "All the right ingredients are there. It's about bringing those ingredients together and making magic happen."
Davies, David, and a squad that can hold its own
The men's national team, under American coach Jesse Marsch, arrives at this tournament with more firepower than either of their two previous World Cup appearances — 1986 and 2022. Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich's first-choice left back, captains the side. Jonathan David leads the line from Juventus. These aren't players padding their CVs at mid-table clubs. They're playing in genuine title races week-in, week-out.
That matters for casual Canadian sports fans who need a reason to care. A squad with players at Bayern and Juventus is an easier sell than one built entirely on MLS journeymen.
For the CPL, the commercial upside is significant. Domestic leagues almost always see a viewership and attendance bump when the host nation performs at a World Cup — and Canada, with Davies and David available, isn't showing up just to make the numbers. Any deep run would accelerate the league's growth in ways a marketing budget simply can't replicate. Those betting on Canadian soccer's long-term expansion have a legitimate case this summer.
The daylight offside experiment adds something real
Beyond the tournament, the CPL has quietly positioned itself as a sandbox for FIFA's most debated rule change in years. In April, the league allowed the first-ever goal under the experimental "daylight" offside rule in professional football — a concept pushed hard by Arsene Wenger in his role as FIFA's head of global football development.
The rule essentially requires clear daylight between an attacker and the last defender before the flag goes up, replacing the millimetre-margin calls that VAR turned into a recurring controversy. Johnson framed it as the CPL choosing to be part of a "global conversation" rather than just a recipient of it.
Whether the rule eventually gets adopted worldwide or quietly shelved, the CPL being the testing ground gives the league a profile it couldn't have bought. "It's created a lot of debate," Johnson said. "That's a good thing."
The Canadian Premier League was founded in 2017 and only played its first season in 2019. It's still a young operation. But a home World Cup, a nationally relevant squad, and a role in reshaping football's laws of the game? The timing is better than it's ever been.
