{"id":15571,"date":"2025-12-07T00:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T03:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/12\/07\/b-c-soccer-legend-christine-sinclair-says-2026-world-cup-feels-real-after-draw\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T00:35:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T03:35:15","slug":"b-c-soccer-legend-christine-sinclair-says-2026-world-cup-feels-real-after-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/12\/07\/b-c-soccer-legend-christine-sinclair-says-2026-world-cup-feels-real-after-draw\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. soccer legend Christine Sinclair says 2026 World Cup \u2018feels real\u2019 after draw"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>SoccerCanadian and B.C. soccer legend Christine Sinclair says the World Cup \u201cfeels real\u201d now that the draw for FIFA\u2019s 2026 Men\u2019s World Cup has taken place.Players can now begin picturing matches, strategizing about specific opponentsBrieanna Charlebois  \u00b7 The Canadian Press  \u00b7 Posted: Dec 05, 2025 5:19 PM EST | Last Updated: December 6Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Host Christine Sinclair, left, and Caroline Frolic hype up the crowd at the FIFA draw watch party at Craft Beer Market in Vancouver on Friday. (Rich Lam\/The Canadian Press)Canadian and B.C. soccer legend Christine Sinclair says FIFA\u2019s 2026 Men\u2019s World Cup \u201cfeels real\u201d now that the draw has taken place.The 27th ranked Canadian men will be in Vancouver to face Qatar on June 18 and then Switzerland on June 24 at B.C. Place Stadium, after drawing those two sides on Friday.But the team they will face in Toronto for their June 12 opener will be an undecided European side \u2014 Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales or Bosnia.Switzerland is ranked 17th in the world, and Qatar 51st.Sinclair, who has represented Canada in six World Cups, said she identifies the draw as a turning point for athletes, when they can begin picturing the games and start strategizing about specific opponents.\u201dThis is when it gets real as a player,\u201d she told reporters after the draw concluded on Friday.\u201dIt comes fast and I can only imagine what the guys are thinking right now \u2014 they must be so excited.\u201dIf Team Canada wins their pool, they will stay in Vancouver for their round-of-32 game and, if they keep winning, for a round-of-16 matchup.Should Canada finish second in the pool, they will face the second-placed team in Mexico\u2019s Group A.Sinclair, who helped host a live watch party for the draw at Craft Beer Market in Vancouver\u2019s False Creek, said she was happy with Canada\u2019s draw.\u201dI do like our group,\u201d she said, calling the games against Switzerland and Qatar \u201cwinnable.\u201d\u201dI like our chances,\u201d she said.The full tournament schedule is slated for release Saturday.WATCH | Soccer journalist John Molinaro discusses Canada\u2019s World Cup draw:Get an early take on Canada\u2019s World Cup drawSoccer journalist John Molinaro, speaking Friday as the World Cup draw was ongoing, provided an initial look at what Canada can expect \u2014 and why we won\u2019t know the fourth and final team in Group B until March. Thomas Schneider, the Swiss Consul General in Vancouver, said he attended a separate watch party on Friday. He called it a \u201cdream come true\u201d that Switzerland had been drawn to play in Vancouver.\u201dMy excitement is beyond description,\u201d he said in an interview.Statistics Canada data show 28,520 people in B.C. reported having Swiss ethnic or cultural origins in the 2021 Census.Schneider said he\u2019s hopeful he and his wife will score tickets to the game at BC Place, though he feels his chances are slim.He said he also expects a wave of Swiss fans to travel to Vancouver for the game \u2014 which he welcomes.\u201dWe can use the presence of the Swiss team here as a platform to promote our country,\u201d he said.Sinclair said she also hopes to attend the Canadian games in person, though she recognizes those will be \u201chot ticket\u201d items.But, she told reporters that she knows it will be special wherever people watch, \u201cwhether that\u2019s inside the stadium, at fan fests or even at home watching it with a group of people.\u201dShe said she remembers the atmosphere in Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics and is predicting the World Cup will be \u201cthat times 100.\u201dB.C. Premier David Eby told the False Creek watch party attendees that the province is excited to host, saying the games will provide B.C. the opportunity to \u201cgrow the economy, create good paying jobs and support hard-working people right across the province.\u201d\u201dThese games are going to leave a legacy in every corner of the province with soccer facilities, kids who are excited about soccer, who are getting fit and having fun and building self-esteem,\u201d he said before joking that the sport was not how he built his own self-esteem.\u201dI was never very good at it, but I loved the orange slices, and I continue to love orange slices.\u201d With files from The Canadian Press\u2019 Nono Shen<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SoccerCanadian and B.C. soccer legend Christine Sinclair says the World Cup \u201cfeels real\u201d now that the draw for FIFA\u2019s 2026 Men\u2019s World Cup has taken place.Players can now begin picturing matches, strategizing about specific opponentsBrieanna Charlebois \u00b7 The Canadian Press \u00b7 Posted: Dec 05, 2025 5:19 PM EST | Last Updated: December 6Listen to this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,118,1],"tags":[120,116],"class_list":["post-15571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-british-columbia","category-indigenous","category-uncategorized","tag-british-columbia","tag-indigenous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}