Jesse Marsch’s co-hosts get their World Cup campaign under way against the side who saw off Italy to qualify via the European play-offs.
Group B
Saturday, 13 June | Toronto Stadium
Kick-off time
03:00 (GMT+8)
The match
The eyes of two nations will be on Toronto Stadium as co-hosts Canada get their FIFA World Cup 2026™ campaign under way with a first-ever World Cup meeting against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following this fixture, Jesse Marsch’s men head to Vancouver for their remaining group encounters with Qatar and Switzerland. European play-off qualifiers Bosnia, who ousted Italy on penalties to book their ticket to North America, will head to Los Angeles and then Seattle for their next games.
Possible Canada starting XI
Crepeau; Johnston, De Fougerolles, Cornelius, Laryea; Kone, Eustaquio, Buchanan, Millar; David, Larin
Possible Bosnia and Herzegovina starting XI
Vasilj; Dedic, Katic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac; Bajraktarevic, Tahirovic, Sunjic, Memic; Demirovic, Dzeko
What they said…
“I don’t think I will get nervous. My job is to prepare the players, giving them the best opportunity to go out and be free, know their roles, and be themselves. And I think we’ve accomplished that here. This team has always performed well since I’ve been here, and I think that’s because of their quality, their character and the clarity they have on the pitch.” Jesse Marsch, Canada coach
“I think we have enough experience that, regardless what is going to happen tomorrow, we’re capable of playing the game on our terms. The Canadians are going to show up and they’re going to be loud, and hopefully they’re going to push us for a good result.” Stephen Eustaquio, Canada midfielder
“We are a small country. This is our second ever World Cup, and for sure we are sort of an underdog in many of the matches ahead. It’s one of the opening games, which is of course for us a tremendous honor, and we really want to show our best to the whole of the world. We really want to be the team that earns respect, and we can only do that by showing what we know on the pitch.” Sergej Barbarez, Bosnia and Herzegovina coach
Toronto Stadium
Toronto Stadium will become the first Canadian ground to host a game at the FIFA World Cup. The city has previously hosted games at the FIFA U-17 World Cup™, The FIFA U-20 World Cup™ and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™.
After Canada’s opening match, there are four further group games being played in Toronto, featuring Ghana, Panama, Germany, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia and Senegal, before a Round of 32 fixture on Thursday, 2 July.
The venue was purpose-built as Canada hosted the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2007 and staged the final where Argentina emerged triumphant, with Sergio Aguero claiming the adidas Golden Ball and adidas Golden Boot.