{"id":466626,"date":"2022-06-22T20:40:58","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T17:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/it-hit-me-wow-the-world-cup-is-really-coming-to-canada\/"},"modified":"2022-06-22T20:40:58","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T17:40:58","slug":"it-hit-me-wow-the-world-cup-is-really-coming-to-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/it-hit-me-wow-the-world-cup-is-really-coming-to-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"#\u201cIt hit me: Wow, the World Cup is really coming to Canada\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c3382439e6\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c3382439e6\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/it-hit-me-wow-the-world-cup-is-really-coming-to-canada\/#%E2%80%9C%E2%80%9CIt_hit_me_Wow_the_World_Cup_is_really_coming_to_Canada%E2%80%9D%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;\u201cIt hit me: Wow, the World Cup is really coming to Canada\u201d&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C%E2%80%9CIt_hit_me_Wow_the_World_Cup_is_really_coming_to_Canada%E2%80%9D%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;\u201cIt hit me: Wow, the World Cup is really coming to Canada\u201d&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            In our Q&amp;A with Jonathan Osorio, the national team star explains why the announcement that Vancouver and Toronto will be host cities at the 2026 World Cup is a very big deal.\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n                                                                        A generation ago, a career trajectory like Jonathan Osorio\u2019s couldn\u2019t exist: raised in Brampton, Ontario and making a living playing his entire professional soccer career in nearby Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old midfielder now holds the record for most <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>earances with Toronto FC\u2014more than 300 and counting\u2014and is a key member of Canada\u2019s men\u2019s national team going to the World Cup in Qatar later this year. In four years\u2019 time, he may even get a chance to play in another World Cup, when Canada co-hosts the 2026 tournament alongside Mexico and the United States\u2014with Vancouver and Toronto unveiled last week as two of the host cities.<\/p>\n<p><em>Maclean\u2019s<\/em> spoke with Osorio about the soccer scene growing up in Canada, leaving the country as a teenager to become a better player, and the impact he\u2019s already seeing from the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> that Canada will be hosting the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you remember about being a kid in Brampton and talking to your friends about soccer?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From our national team, we have seven or eight guys who grew up in Brampton, which is incredible. I went to a school that was big into soccer. Everybody spoke about wanting to be a professional footballer one day. We are really competitive\u2014the thing that stood out to me about Brampton was how it was super competitive within your circle of friends. Brampton was all about soccer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As you <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>led around the province and the country for tournaments, did soccer get the same kind of love as it did in your hometown?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Probably not. When I was growing up, basketball was the more popular sport around Canada, and especially around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). But soccer was right there, quietly growing. Brampton was the hub for a lot of players that end up going professional from the GTA<\/p>\n<p><strong>When you were going up, did you think it would be possible to a career as a footballer while living and playing in Toronto?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I always believed that I could be a professional but I didn\u2019t really think about whether that would be in Toronto or not. I wanted to be a professional footballer, no matter where it took me. When I was about 17 years old, I moved to Uruguay and that\u2019s where I developed. At the time, I didn\u2019t see my professional football career starting in Canada.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Game<\/a> On: How Canada became a tennis superpower\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>What was it like going to Uruguay\u2014having to leave Canada to attain the level that you wanted?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was very tough to leave my family and my friends and go to a whole new country. Uruguay is considered a third-world country, so it\u2019s not the same as living in Canada. It made me grow up very quickly. It was the right decision for me at the time because without that experience, I wouldn\u2019t be the player or person I am today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You were only about two years old when the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup. As you grew older, and started to play in tournaments in America, did you see a difference in terms of how hosting the World Cup impacted the Americans?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. Growing up, I played in tournaments like the USA Cup held in Minnesota, which is a pretty big youth tournament, and the Dallas Cup. Playing against teams from over there, you saw that they were way ahead of Canada in the development of the sport. There was a lot more investment in the United States, and a lot more people that played the game. And the World Cup in \u201994 really helped speed that up and grow their domestic league, which was very important for the MLS in getting to the level it is now. I expect no difference for 2026 and what impact that will have for Canada and the sport in this country.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>MORE: Is Shaedon Sharpe Canada\u2019s next NBA superstar?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s been a couple of years since we knew that Canada was going to co-host the World Cup, but when FIFA announced the host cities last week\u2014and we could see that the World Cup is coming to Vancouver and Toronto\u2014what impact did that have on you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Honestly, I hadn\u2019t thought too much about the World Cup coming to Canada until the announcement of the cities last week. That day, it hit me: Wow, the World Cup is really coming home. It\u2019s coming to Canada, and it\u2019s coming to my hometown in Toronto. We\u2019re going to have games here in this city. It\u2019s incredible the impact that\u2019s having already\u2014and we\u2019re still four years away.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What impact are you seeing on the pitch?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The city will be exposed to the highest level of sport that the world can give. There are 14-year olds, right now, dreaming and working towards being good enough to be on that national team for 2026 when they are 18 years old\u2014and they haven\u2019t even signed with professional teams yet. That\u2019s pretty incredible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Does qualifying for the 2022 World Cup later this year change the meaning of Canada hosting in four years?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For sure. We really only focused on Qatar leading up to this World Cup and we really wanted to qualify because of what that means: qualifying. Not just hosting and getting a free spot in the World Cup. We wanted to play in a World Cup where we earned the right to be in it. That means a lot for this country and, going into the next World Cup, it raises expectations and makes it that much more exciting. And we\u2019re really looking to surprise the whole world in Qatar.<\/p>\n<div class=\"under-article-widget-nl\">\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-title\">Looking for more?<\/p>\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-description\">Get the best of <em>Maclean<\/em>&#8216;s sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.<\/p>\n<p>                <iframe style=\"display:none;width:0px;height:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/sports\/it-hit-me-wow-canada-is-going-to-host-a-world-cup\/about:blank\" name=\"gform_ajax_frame_26\" id=\"gform_ajax_frame_26\" title=\"This iframe contains the logic required to handle Ajax powered Gravity Forms.\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/sports\/it-hit-me-wow-canada-is-going-to-host-a-world-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;\u201cIt hit me: Wow, the World Cup is really coming to Canada\u201d&#8221; In our Q&amp;A with Jonathan Osorio, the national team star explains why the announcement that Vancouver and Toronto will be host cities at the 2026 World Cup is a very big deal. A generation ago, a career trajectory like Jonathan Osorio\u2019s couldn\u2019t exist:&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":466627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1347502385-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[87420,27142,128438,88879,82278,130613],"class_list":["post-466626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-fifa","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-fc","tag-vancouver","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}