Still no sign of Bublé, worryingly, though no doubt he’s saving himself for the grandest and glitziest of entrances. Freed from Desire is blaring for now.
Away from football, another World Cup has kicked off in England:
Juventus’ Jonathan David is up front for Canada and their record goalscorer with 39 in 77 games:
This Today in Focus ep is worth a listen.
Alphonso Davies, still on the mend, wasn’t expected to be in Canada’s XI for their opener. Bosnia’s biggest name, Edin Dzeko, is on the bench.
Forget the World Cup just for a sec … some news from Scotland.
The teams
Canada: Crépeau, Johnston, De Fougerolles, Cornelius, Laryea, Buchanan, Koné, Eustáquio, Millar, Jonathan David, Oluwaseyi
Subs: St. Clair, Goodman, Jones, Waterman, Choinière, Larin, Shaffelburg, Bombito, Davies, Ahmed, Osorio, Sigur, Promise, Saliba, Nelson
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Vasilj, Dedic, Katic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac, Bajraktarevic, Basic, Tahirovic, Memic, Demirovic, Lukic
Subs: Jurkas, Zlomislic, Mujakic, Hadzikadunic, Gigovic, Bazdar, Dzeko, Sunjic, Hadziahmetovic, Burnic, Alajbegovic, Radeljic, Tabakovic, Malic, Mahmic
A fair few empty seats for this ceremony …. though we’re still waiting for Bublé.
Miss yesterday’s opening ceremony? Don’t worry, we’ve got another in the works. Yep, Michael Bublé is one of several performers about to grace the Toronto Stadium.
Partey to miss Ghana's World Cup opener after Canada visa refused
Here’s more on that breaking story:
The Athletic is reporting that Thomas Partey will not play in Ghana’s opening game after his visa application to Canada was refused. The Black Stars face Panama next week in Toronto before playing England in Boston and Croatia in Philadelphia.
It is a brilliant atmosphere at Toronto Stadium, with Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina supporters drinking in the occasion. Canada fans marched to the ground en masse, some high-fiving the Bosnian supporters who got stuck amid the traffic, flares and chants the order of the day. It was a sticky morning in the city, with no discernible evidence of a historic match taking place, but that has all changed with a couple of hours until kick-off. There was an a cappella version of O Canada, of course. There is pedigree among the media corps, too, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Owen Hargreaves, who was born in Calgary, both in the building. There were suggestions in Bosnian media that they may have more fans in attendance, but Jesse Marsch was in no doubt on the eve of the game. “That stadium is going to be red, not blue,” he said, matter-of-factly.
Updated
All you need to know about the two sides:
Here’s what Jesse Marsch has had to say in the buildup, heralding the multiculturalism of his squad. Welcome words from the former Leeds manager.
From the moment I stepped into the environment with this team, I was incredibly impressed by how much they loved each other, how much they were drawn to each other and how much, even though there were differences, their back stories had similarities: first and second-generation Canadian, Portuguese, French, Jamaican, Colombian, Scottish …
Preamble
Mexico’s had its turn; off we roll to Canada, hosting the men’s World Cup for the very first time. That’s history already guaranteed but Jesse Marsch will want more from the day, particularly when he’s assembled a team that reached the semi-finals of the 2024 Copa América and have lost just one game in normal time in the last year. A point would be significant for Canada – they’ve played six World Cup games and lost them all – but this really is their time to make a splash and get to the knockouts.
Up first: Edin Dzeko’s Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yep, he’s still knocking them in at 40, part of the side that ground their way through the qualifying playoffs, breaking Welsh and Italian hearts, back at the World Cup for the first time in 12 years. Time to ruin the Toronto party, too? We’ll see at 3pm local time. Or 8pm in BST money (5am Saturday AEST).
