Canada fans cheer after winning a Copa America quarterfinal soccer match between Venezuela and Canada, July 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. Julio Cortez/AP Photo.
Canada fans cheer after winning a Copa America quarterfinal soccer match between Venezuela and Canada, July 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. Julio Cortez/AP Photo.
This weekend represents a milestone for Canada’s men’s soccer program as they face off against Uruguay in the Copa America third-place match. It is a remarkable achievement for the team’s tournament debut, and it presages an even greater opportunity on an even bigger stage. In two years, Canada will co-host—alongside our continental comrades Mexico and the U.S.—the largest event on the planet: the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The World Cup is a spectacle that more than 60 percent of the world’s population watched two years ago, and it is expected that over 5 million spectators will be welcomed to North America for the tournament.
Much of the focus on this event has been on the economics of the World Cup, on the financial costs and benefits of hosting. Very little, if anything, has been written about the diplomatic and foreign policy benefits to be gained given the participation of global political and economic leaders who will no doubt come to cheer on their teams. FIFA, for instance, has 211 members while the UN has 193. Amidst the frenzied fans and feverish action happening on the pitch, there will be plenty of action on the sidelines, in the stands, and in hotel lobby bars as businesses, organisations, and even nations leverage the event to advance their interests. As important as our team’s tournament standing will be, Canada cannot afford to miss out on these extracurricular contests.
To date, the government has not articulated its vision for this. With an election looming in October 2025, there is little time left to formulate and execute a plan to take advantage of the world’s biggest spectacle. Failure to do so would be a tremendously wasted opportunity and could reinforce the image of Canada as unimaginative, isolated, and disinterested in doing anything but “parking the bus” and seeking a draw.
The global feeling is that Canada shows up for these moments but are passengers and spectators, leaving the heavy lifting to our partners and allies. The World Cup in Qatar—the second World Cup Canada has ever qualified for—was the first major global sporting event in the Arab world and was a tremendous moment for influential Canadian diplomacy—and one met with indifference by Canadian leaders. I was there to witness the missed chances and saw firsthand how Canada’s diplomatic absence was viewed with disdain. How lecturing the world from our comfortable perch in Ottawa was viewed and how it hindered our global reputation. Canada needs to approach its hosting of the 2026 World Cup with the same interest as we would a G7, G20, or NATO summit.
The need to take advantage of sporting and cultural opportunities in a meaningful way reflects the rapidly changing and increasingly complex and competitive geopolitical landscape. The competition for global influence and power is migrating from the West to the East and South, and acclimating to these global shifts will require a bold new approach and a renewed strategic understanding of Canada’s place in the world.
Canada needs to rethink how we navigate this new geopolitical order and recognize that diplomacy through empty phrases such as “like-mindedness” is no longer feasible. Conversations underpinned by strategic engagements—especially with those who disagree with us—are a necessity. We need to implement strategies to engage influential organisations—particularly ones in which Euro-Atlantic countries are not members—and we should be utilising all the levers at our disposal to initiate dialogue. Lecturing others around the world does not work and is downright counterproductive.
Sport is one of the most important of these major levers. And while the World Cup in 2026 should be the catalyst to initiate a national sports diplomacy plan, the strategy should expand beyond this one event and aim to take advantage of all sporting-related opportunities in the future.
We are a nation of successful global sports leaders and innovators, particularly in women’s sports. We have for decades produced athletes and sports administrators with the utmost integrity and character. A truly Team Canada approach would leverage this success to advance our national interests both on and off the pitch, court, rink, or field.
We need to start systematically planning how sport can be utilised as a springboard to extend our influence regionally and globally and signal Canada as an open partner for diplomacy, trade, and other critical interests.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi controls the ball during a Copa America semifinal soccer match against Canada in East Rutherford, N.J., July 9, 2024. Adam Hunger/AP Photo.
A Canadian Sports Diplomacy Strategy should find a home in any revamped foreign policy at a time when re-examining our overall approach is necessary and underway. We need to:
1. Embolden and utilize Canadian sport to represent Canada’s image and reputation globally. Our global sporting network is a largely untapped diplomatic asset. Armed and prepared with the appropriate knowledge, skills, and networks our sports diplomats and representatives can continue to deliver against their sporting goals while also working to advance Canada’s foreign and trade policy objectives.
2. Enhance Canada’s trade, tourism, and investment opportunities through sport. Our athletes and sports representatives are already influencers with extensive and often global followings. They are untapped resources who can assist government and business in cultivating relationships to support our foreign and trade policy interests. We should embed sports representatives into planned trade missions.
3. Focus on using sport for good and building safer communities domestically and globally. We need to establish ourselves as a global leader in using sport to strengthen communities by developing sports partnerships with NGOs, public institutions, governments, the private sector, and other key stakeholders to empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all people.
To make this work, Canada needs to appoint a special envoy for sport and culture and provide that individual with a multifaceted mandate that starts with putting together a plan for 2026. This is not unprecedented. In fact, the existing Canadian ambassador of climate change is one such example of a special purpose envoy.
Then, the creation of a council made up of experts and leads from relevant departments and sports organisations would provide a bureaucratic structure to assist the special envoy.
An aptly skilled envoy and a supportive council would be tasked to marry the expansive global sports calendar and our trade and business missions to further the interests of Canada. To not just sell Canada but to embed Canadian values and interests into the rapidly shifting world order.
Sport and culture alone are not going to replace traditional diplomacy, but they do provide a soft asset at very little cost. We need to be ruthless in our pursuit of our interests and should be employing sport to broaden our toolkit. The 2026 FIFA World Cup represents the perfect opportunity to kick this endeavour off.
Earl Cochrane is a well-recognized global sports leader and sport diplomacy advocate who has been at the forefront of football’s significant growth and success in North America. He has over 30 years of domestic and international experience working with leading sport organisations such as Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), FIFA, Concacaf, Canada Soccer, as well as Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs Toronto FC and D.C. United.
Cochrane is currently the CEO and Founder of Kinova Solutions. Prior to launching Kinova, Mr. Cochrane was the CEO/General Secretary of Canada Soccer and played a pivotal role as a senior member of the Canadian bid team that secured the United Bid (with Mexico and the United States) to host the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Polievre speaks to the Assembly of First Nations as National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak looks on, July 11, 2024 in Montreal. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press.
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Polievre speaks to the Assembly of First Nations as National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak looks on, July 11, 2024 in Montreal. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press.
In The Weekly Wrap Sean Speer, our editor-at-large, analyses for Hub subscribers the big stories shaping politics, policy, and the economy in the week that was.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre broke a promise this week. He spoke to a lobby group—in fact, he spoke to one of the biggest and best-funded lobby groups in the country: the Assembly of First Nations.
The AFN likes to position itself as a representative voice of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and their chief interlocuter vis-à-vis the federal government. But its fundamental purpose is as an advocacy and lobby organization for First Nations leadership across the country. It’s much more like the chamber of commerce for First Nations chiefs than it is as a legitimate vehicle for nation-to-nation relations.
One key difference though is that the federal government finances the AFN’s operations. Of its annual revenues of $53 million, Ottawa is the source of just over 90 percent—including a $40 million annual grant from the Department of Indian Services. (The Trudeau government cynically increased funding for the AFN in its first budget “in the true spirit of cooperation.”)
While Poilievre deserves tremendous credit for his efforts to strengthen the Conservative Party’s standing with Indigenous Peoples—including nominating Indigenous candidates like Ellis Ross and Billy Morin—, he should continue to build relationships at the community level rather than through the AFN. Not only has it shown itself to be a dysfunctional organization in recent years, but its longer track record brings into question its good-faith commitment to improving the lives of Indigenous Peoples.
EDITOR-AT-LARGE, RESEARCH DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER
Sean Speer is The Hub’s Editor-at-Large. He is also a university lecturer at the University of Toronto and Carleton University, as well as a think-tank scholar and columnist. He previously served as a senior economic adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
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