THE World Cup has come to Toronto’s iconic St. Lawrence Market.

Named as the world’s best market in 2012, you can see why. Originally built in 1845 as City Hall, beyond the handsome brickwork of the exterior is the cavernous hall hosting more than 120 food stalls and independent outlets, with locally sourced quality produce selling everything from fruit and fish, cheese to chicken, honey and ham, wine to whiskey, and plenty in between. Flags of competing nations hang everywhere. From Portugal’s green and red Bandeira das Quinas dangling from the shop selling the country’s delicious Pastel de Nata’s, to the Mexican tricolour with its three vertical stripes of green, white, and red draped proudly from the outlet offering mouth-watering burrito bowls nearby.

Sitting at one of the benches outside the market, I meet convivial Canadian carpenter, Dean, as we strike up a conversation about the World Cup. AC Milan fan Dean tells me he has Italian heritage and confides he is still distraught about Italy being knocked out of the play-offs by Bosnia. Not least because the Azzurri would have faced Canada in the tournament’s opening match in the country today. “I was devastated,” he tells me, “I mean, how is it even possible for us not to qualify for three World Cups,” although, he also adds with a glint in his eye after I tell him I’m from England, “we still beat you guys in the final at Euro 2020.”

There are an increasingly large number of issues mounting for Canada’s pariah-like cousins south of the 49th parallel, not least the astonishingly exorbitant ticket prices.

Earlier, a man with South Asian heritage in the confectionery shop at Oshawa Railway Station, on the banks of Lake Ontario an hour from Toronto, on hearing my London accent and understandably assuming I like football, proudly tells me he has got tickets for Germany vs Ivory Coast to be played next week at Toronto Stadium, the same ground where Canada will host Bosnia today. I ask how much he paid for his tickets. The smile immediately drops from his face and he replies ruefully, saying: “Far too much.”

No wonder the skyrocketing ticket prices have been labelled a monumental betrayal of fans. And that’s without mentioning the US’s restrictions on entry for overseas officials and fans, with tickets, accreditation and permits being revoked or denied to players, referees and photographers. This included Africa’s best official Omar Artan from Somalia, who was refused entry. While the Senegal and Uzbek squads were given intense screening procedures during stringent searches, including sniffer dogs, with the Iranian squad being forced to switch training bases, and countries, from Arizona in the US, to Tijuana, in Mexico.

The mounting problems in the US are in stark contrast to Toronto, here in one of the world’s most diverse and cosmopolitan cities, with its welcoming World Cup vibe, which has seen many businesses, homes, streets and even here at the St Lawrence Market putting up flags of participating countries in the forthcoming global jamboree.

“I think it’s going to be a lot more fun here in Canada, compared to ‘over there’ [the United States],” Dean says, adding with a proud smile: “I mean, hey, this is Toronto, everyone is welcome.”

Working up an appetite, it’s a good time and place to have a bite to eat, as I learn about a local favourite called peameal. Cured Canadian bacon in a sweet-salty brine and rolled in cornmeal. You can have marmalade with it. So I did. Which was delicious with its salty-sweet flavour. I also had a side of poutine, beloved Canadian comfort food consisting of chips slathered in cheese curds and gravy, a succulent treat which was gloriously savoury, a restorative lunch before exploring this friendly city further.

Terrific Toronto

There’s a beguiling mixture of old and new architecture here in the centre of Toronto, as tall towers of steel and glass mingle with fine stone structures.

I headed over to Corktown, which was named after Irish immigrants who came to Toronto in the 19th century. Many found work in the local breweries and brickyards here in the still cobbled streets of the evocative Distillery District. For this summer, the area is now adorned with various posters and boards offering World Cup deals and events, including a free music festival that will run throughout the tournament.

I stroll back to downtown at Nathan Phillips Square in the heart of this lively and vivid city. The idiosyncratic Toronto sign is engulfed by young and old men and women playing football on temporary pitches installed for the tournament in the expanse of space situated near the 19th century Romanesque Old City Hall. I look on as a group of women in headscarves joyously chatter while eagerly kicking a football. 

On my walk around Toronto I also sense it is an eminently liveable place with vibrant neighbourhoods a stone’s throw from the centre, not least through rent controls prohibiting landlords from raising tenants’ rents charges by more than 2.5 per cent per year.

At the baseball, in the sellout 41,000-capacity stadium that started life known as the SkyDome, Toronto’s Major League Baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays are hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. The 2025 World Series runners-up are trying to gain momentum after a sticky start at times to 2026.

As the searing heat of the last few days gives way to more temperate weather, the stadium’s retractable roof has been used, with the all-too-prevalent threat of heavy thunderstorms. An elegant raft of arched, steel girders, not dissimilar to the roof at London’s St Pancras Station, help amplify the atmosphere inside, which is already raucous, not least due to the excitement of “Loonie Dog” evening, whereby all hot dogs are priced at one dollar.

Judging by the numerous queues of young people around the concourse, the vast majority clad in the colours of the Blue Jays, boxes of four hot dogs for four dollars (£3) are the most popular purchase of the evening.

However, with the World Cup looming large, it is impossible to avoid thoughts turning to the forthcoming tournament.

As we look out over the baseball diamond, where the MLB action continues apace, amid an aural assault from the booming speakers and gigantic bright neon scoreboard, Oshawa resident, dad of two, Anoop Anantharaman, tells me: “Although I enjoy baseball, and I am firmly a cricket man, there is something special about the World Cup.

“I am a big fan of the great Lionel Messi and Argentina and even have a team jersey, which I plan to wear when they play.

“It’s just such a shame about the impossibly high ticket prices, which means myself and my kids won’t be able to attend any games here in Toronto.”

The finish to the baseball is a classic. The Blue Jays storm back from 2-1 down late in the ninth inning to win 3-2, with previously unheralded Brandon Valenzuela becoming the hero, when, at the death, in front of a baying crowd, rapt with the thrilling climax unfolding, the 25-year-old reserve hit a game-winning single as the Blue Jays scored twice off Phillies pitcher Jhoan Duran.

In a game rich in texture and narrative, also notable was Toronto’s Dylan Cease, who struck out 11 in six innings on his return from a hamstring injury, with the Phillies swinging and missing 29 times on 50 swings against Cease. Much to the delight of the excitable home crowd, Cease allowed one run and three hits, while also walking one and throwing 93 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Victory duly achieved, no wonder the crowd departed delighted from the stadium under the city’s distinctive needle-shaped 553-metre-tall CN Tower, after getting their money’s worth of top-level baseball, with tickets priced from 25 dollars (around £12).

Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

Canada’s first match is this afternoon at Toronto Stadium against Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the country hosting 13 games during the World Cup, with six games here in Toronto and seven in Vancouver.

Canadian captain Alphonso Davies is not expected to play in the team’s opener against the Eastern Europeans, who beat Italy and Wales in the play-offs to deservedly earn a place at the tournament, as the Bayern Munich star continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

Born to Liberian refugee parents in Ghana, Davies moved to Canada with his family at the age of five. He became a Canadian citizen in June 2017, having previously held Liberian nationality. Later that month, he made his debut for Canada, becoming the youngest player to represent the national team.

A sellout crowd of more than 45,000 fans is expected to be in full force today, with a large number of Bosnia fans also expected to be present. Temporary grandstands have been installed at the stadium for the tournament, bumping up the capacity from 28,000 for Toronto FC’s home MLS matches.

Canada, ranked 30th in the world, failed to post a win in its World Cup debut in 1986 at Mexico, nor in its return to the tournament four years ago in Qatar. While Bosnia, the world No 65, pulled off an upset win over 12th-ranked Italy last March to qualify, when Mostar-born Sergej Barbarez’s side beat the Azzurri on penalty kicks to secure their first World Cup appearance since 2014, following The Zmajevis’ (“The Dragons”) dramatic penalty shootout triumph against the dragons of Wales, at Cardiff City’s stadium back in March.

The eagerly awaited match promises to be an exciting, colourful affair. Just like the city of Toronto itself.