When Toronto scored its first Major League Soccer team in 2007, it brought professional soccer to the mainstream. But the sport has long had a foothold in this multicultural city, where generations of immigrants have been making World Cup season an unofficial holiday in their local bars for decades.
The Toronto FC is not yet as iconic in the city’s sports culture as the Maple Leafs (hockey), the Raptors (basketball), or the Blue Jays (baseball), but the team’s fans are no less dedicated. Add to that a 2020 Olympic Gold in soccer for Canadian women, and launches in 2025 of both AFC Toronto (a professional women’s soccer club) and Canada’s first professional women’s league (the Northern Super League), and you know a passion for soccer is on the rise here.