Canada’s multiculturalism leads to dual allegiances for World Cup fans

With less than 24 hours until Toronto's first World Cup match, Canada's host cities say they are ready for kickoff. Heather Wright reports.

As Canada hosts its first ever FIFA World Cup, soccer fans in the country have been torn between supporting the Canadian national team and the team of the nation where their family is originally from, though new data suggests many are choosing to root for both.

A recent Harris Poll survey commissioned by Volkswagen found that nearly 60 per cent of Canadians with heritage from another country don’t feel fully represented by a single flag when it comes to their soccer fandom.

The survey found that 63 per cent of the respondents view themselves as dual fans of both Canada and their family’s country of origin. That multicultural identity amongst soccer fans in the country is uniquely Canadian, 84 per cent of survey respondents said.

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“The research further found that 76 per cent of Canadians agree fans shouldn’t have to choose between rooting for Canada and their heritage nation during the World Cup,” Volkswagen said in a release last week, promoting limited-edition dual-sided car flags for the World Cup.

Canada is set to kick off its World Cup journey on Friday afternoon in Toronto, when it will face Bosnia and Herzegovina. As one of the most diverse cities in the world, Toronto is home to thousands of people with Bosnian origins.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Canada’s other host city, Vancouver, is set to host its first of seven World Cup games as Australia takes on Turkiye.

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Methodology

This survey was conducted online within Canada by The Harris Poll on behalf of Volkswagen from May 29 to June 1, 2026, among 1,005 adults ages 18 and older.

The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 3.9 percentage points using a 95 per cent confidence level.