A recent survey has found that over two-thirds of Canadians say they support hosting matches for the 2038 World Cup, should Canada or North America be selected to host again.Following the success of the Canadian team at the 2026 World Cup, the survey showcases that the popularity of the sport has skyrocketed, particularly among Canadians aged 18-29..A recent post from Canada Soccer on Instagram showcases that soccer is now the second most popular sport in the country and the most popular sport among young people as well as Canadians not born in Canada.The rise in popularity comes as the Canadian Men's National team made it to the round of 16 in the latest World Cup, their best-ever result, with Canada finishing above traditional heavyweights like Germany and the Netherlands.During the course of the World Cup, over 600,000 spectators packed into stadiums in Vancouver and Toronto to watch the world's best go head to head, and according to this new survey, a majority of Canadians would like to host the world again..A survey from Vancouver-based pollster Research Co. shows that 67% of Canadians would want to host matches in a hypothetical 2038 North American World Cup.A total of 30% of respondents said they would like the matches to be played in the same cities as 2026, Toronto and Vancouver, while 37% said they would like to see a wider slate of host cities in a hypothetical 2038 World Cup.Of the respondents, only 14% said that they would not want to see Canada host any matches, and 19% said they were undecided.Although no formal bids have been submitted to host the 2038 tournament, due to FIFA's hosting rules only North American or Oceanian countries would be allowed to host.Due to the necessity to rotate the tournament around the world to different confederations, once a continent has hosted a tournament, it cannot host another for at least another two cycles or eight years.The 2030 World Cup, the 100th anniversary of the competition, will feature matches in three different continents and six different countries.Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will host matches; therefore, European, South American, and African countries cannot host until at least 2042..In addition, the 2034 tournament will be hosted in Saudi Arabia, meaning that the 2038 tournament couldn't be played in Asia either.This leaves either North America or Oceania as the only two continents that will be allowed to bid, and with the only major country in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) being New Zealand, it's likely the tournament returns to North America in some capacity.With the rumoured expansion of the tournament to 64 teams in future editions, it's likely that multinational or even multi-continental tournaments may become the norm.It would also mean that if Canada were to host matches again, it would likely have more than just two cities hosting matches.Although 2038 is still 12 years away, it is likely that bids for the 38' and 42' tournament will begin to be made official in the next couple years.If the 2026 tournament was anything to go by, then the announcement that Canada would be hosting another World Cup would continue to boost the already skyrocketing popularity of soccer in the country.
