World Cup 2026: Lessons Vancouver learned and what comes next

“It’s really hurt us.”

On the other hand, nearly three-quarters of the 604 Metro Vancouver residents polled by the Research Co. between June 30 and July 2 said they believed that the Cup had a positive impact on B.C. and Vancouver, and that it would promote tourism and economic development.

The final costs and revenue from hosting seven Cup games in Vancouver between June 13 and July 7 are still to be tallied. So for now businesses and residents are left wondering if they feel like it was all worth it.

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me say it one more time: yes!” laughed Talbot of the downtown business improvement association. “I don’t want to suggest that FIFA changed downtown. I think, though, that it reminded us of what our downtown can be.”

Royce Chwin, president of Destination Vancouver, agrees with that rosy outlook — as long as officials work hard to build off marketing successes such as the TSN/CTV broadcast desk overlooking Vancouver Harbour and Science World dressed up as a soccer ball.

“It will be worth it if … we can harness this momentum that we have created — because the city showed up so incredibly well out of the 16 (host) cities — and we do something with it,” Chwin said. “(But) if we ride on the coattails of the beautiful city in the beautiful space, then we will have squandered the opportunity in the investment.”

Chwin was hesitant to put a dollar value on the future tourism boost stemming from the Cup. But he noted that after Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, there was a jump in overnight visitors that lasted until 2019.

“So we have a track record,” he said. “And we expect something similar.”

There are opportunities to make the Cup exposure “pay off,” such as other large sports organizations opting to stage future tournaments here, Chwin added: “Now the job is to … capitalize on that exposure in the years to come, and to land those events.”

Ottawa’s Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer in May estimated Canada’s price tag to stage the tournament was $1.1 billion, with Vancouver’s hosting costs pegged at $578 million.

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians were concerned about the use of taxpayer funds for this event, according to a Leger poll of 1,505 people conducted this week. At the same time, an even higher percentage of respondents said they supported hosting the tournament.

Bek Shamsiev, manager of the Azur Legacy Hotel in downtown Vancouver, said his bookings in June were down 20 per cent compared with the same month in 2025.

Chwin said that while many events were paused during the tournament, 10 major conferences are scheduled in Vancouver over the next few months, and hotel occupancy is expected to reach 90 per cent this summer.

On Monday, the province announced restaurants granted temporary patio approvals during the Cup can now keep them open until summer’s end.

Ideally, Tostenson said, restaurants and bars can find ways to keep patrons coming, perhaps through food specials or community events, or dine-out themes on certain evenings.

“What can we do as an industry to activate these things and make it interesting for people to still come out, because we are going to see, obviously, a downturn,” he said.

“We realize what the possibilities are. Now we’ve just got to go get them.”

The biggest challenge may be how to include restaurants on the edge of popular areas, so they can also be part of the trend.

Anatoli Souvlaki, a popular Greek restaurant, sits across the street from Canada Soccer House, a large fenced-off fan zone in North Van’s Shipyards District. Restaurants inside were booming, but outside the perimeter Anatoli’s was quieter than usual because its clientele didn’t want to battle the congestion.

Totenson said restaurants and bars on Granville Street were also in favour of extending the pedestrian strip, as long as it came with additional police. Despite large crowds and increased alcohol sales, he noted, there were few reported problems on the strip, which had an extensive number of police officers assigned to it during the tournament.

Sarah Blyth-Gerszak, who runs the Overdose Prevention Society in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, said during the tournament that some people were “pushed around with no place to go” by authorities.

She isn’t opposed to the city hosting the Cup, noting many people in her community enjoyed watching the games on TV. She hopes, though, that the international media attention on Vancouver’s insufficient amount of social housing will lead to change.

“Big events like this I hope draw attention on that: In order to be a good community, you treat your homeless well,” Blyth-Gerszak said.

The final chapter of how hosting the Cup will impact Vancouver has, of course, not been written yet.

Talbot argued the Cup exceeded expectations by making “the downtown come alive in ways we haven’t experienced in years,” and believes more people will be lured here by the international media exposure during the planet’s most-watched sporting event.