Red, white and blue: Canada fans taste defeat for first time at World Cup

VANCOUVER — Canada fans have tasted defeat for the first time at the 2026 World Cup after a 2-1 loss to Switzerland, on a day that started with emotional tributes to injured Canadian midfielder Ismaël Koné, then brought them down from the high of last week’s massive win over Qatar.

Wednesday’s result means Team Canada won’t be playing in Vancouver again in the round of 32, though they have reached the knockout stage of the tournament for the first time.

But despite the deflating loss, in which Canada came close to scoring in the final stages, some fans were searching for positives.

“Canada, we’ve got to keep expectations realistic. Canada progressing at a World Cup through the group stages, scoring six goals in a game, I mean, this is a good tournament for us,” said Graeme Macmillan, from Winnipeg, dressed in a curly red-and-white wig.

He was referring to Canada’s 6-0 rout of Qatar last Thursday that set a high bar for fan satisfaction ahead of Wednesday match against the higher-ranked Swiss.

Canadian fan Nabi Zadeh was gifted tickets to the match, his first ever World Cup game, for his 34th birthday.

While it was a heartbreaking loss, he highlighted the number of firsts the men’s team has had this tournament — earning its first World Cup point with a draw against Bosnia, then its first tournament win against Qatar, then advancing past the group stage.

“You are watching Canadian history actually being moved in soccer, so it’s really exciting,” Zadeh said. “Canada is making history. Every game, every moment, it’s new.”

A massive crowd of Canada supporters, who were led by five flag-draped Vancouver police horses, had marched to the stadium ahead of Wednesday’s noon kickoff, chanting and singing their way down the “last mile” walk.

Many were waving No. 8 posters to honour Koné, who suffered a broken leg in the Qatar match, and they held them aloft again in the stadium during the national anthem.

While Canada had gone into the match all but certain of reaching the knockout phase, a win or draw against Switzerland would have kept the team on top of the group and brought them back to Vancouver on July 2. Instead, they’ll be playing in Los Angeles on Sunday, while the Swiss will play in Vancouver.

Nick Sharp, from Vancouver, watched the match at the FIFA Fan Festival at the PNE amphitheatre in East Vancouver. He said Canada had a lot of good chances and deserved some credit.

“We’re still through. It’s a historic moment,” he said.

But Gabriel Castellon, also from Vancouver, was struggling to see the positives in a match that was the “polar opposite” to the Qatar match, which he also watched.

“It felt very painful in a lot of ways … I almost would have preferred getting blown out because we were so close to tying at the end, but we just couldn’t make it happen. It’s brutal. Soul-crushing, really,” he said at the stadium.

Fans didn’t get to see captain Alphonso Davies play as had been teased by head coach Jesse Marsch in the match that saw the Swiss grab two goals early in the second half before a goal off the toe of substitute Promise David kept Canadian hopes alive until the final whistle.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, waving a red smoke canister and wearing a flag as a cape, had been part of the supporters march, while Prime Minister Mark Carney, who attended the Qatar game, was at Wednesday’s match too.

The huge pre-game marches in Toronto and Vancouver, organized by the Voyageurs fan group, have become a phenomenon as the tournament progresses.

Wednesday’s march featured fans doing the Canadian canoe row, which appears to have been inspired by the viral Viking row practised by Norwegian fans. The Canadian version is one-sided as if paddling a canoe, and can be enjoyed standing or seated, while the Norwegian double-sided version is usually done seated.

Canadian fan Steven Figner from Port Moody, B.C., said he was at his first men’s World Cup match — but in 2015 he watched the national women’s team defeat the Swiss at BC Place to advance to the quarterfinals of the women’s World Cup.

He was denied victory on Wednesday though, or even the draw that he had hoped for “at a minimum.”

The Swiss fans were outnumbered by Canada supporters in BC Place Stadium, but it was hard to tell visually. Both contingents were dressed primarily in red and white, the national colours of both Canada and Switzerland, as they flooded into the stadium.

After the match, Swiss fans rejoiced on the stadium concourse, ringing cowbells among the silent Canada supporters.

Susanne Schibler, was at Vancouver’s fan festival, her red cowboy hat adorned with Swiss toothpick flags.

She said that for a Swiss-Canadian dual citizen like her, there could have been “no losers today.”

“I would have been happy with either team but I have to say I’m really happy for my Swiss national team today,” said Schibler, who immigrated in 1978. She added that while “Canadians are second in my heart,” she’d be seeking a venue with more Swiss fans for next week’s knockout match.

Fifteen-year-old Matthew Ring from Vancouver was at the fan festival with his friends in the front row to watch Canada for a second time. He and his boisterous group were featured in news footage of Canada’s defeat of Qatar and they came back for more, pressed up against the railing in front of the big screen at the PNE amphitheatre.

He said he got up at 6:30 Wednesday morning and queued for hours to get his prime position.

“Because I love Canada so much,” said Ring.

Wednesday’s game was the fourth match at BC Place, with the next game involving New Zealand and Belgium on Friday, before the round-of-32 knockout match on July 2, then a round-of-16 knockout on July 7.

At the Toronto fan festival in Fort York, Canada fan Declan Howe’s optimism about the rest of the tournament couldn’t be faulted.

“Hey, I’m hoping, I got a five-dollar parlay down for a thousand dollars, Canada’s going to take it home,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois and Nono Shen, The Canadian Press