BURST
From Vancouver’s Entertainment District to watch parties across Metro Vancouver, jubilant fans celebrated Canada’s historic World Cup victory over Qatar well into the night.
Hours after the match ended, Granville Street was still heaving with thousands of supporters, some draped in Canadian flags others singing O Canada at the tops of their lungs. Many spilled out of bars and packed patios screaming “Canada!”
To say the city was in a good mood would be an understatement. Ecstatic fans sang and danced, and knocked back beers or mocktails, expressing their joy over the country’s epic six-nil win.
Dublin Calling, a sports bar on Granville Street, was packed solid from morning through night with people from all over the world. A lot of different languages echoed in the crowd: Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German.
Later in the evening, the pedestrian zone was alive with Mexican fans as well as Canadian fans, who erupted in cheer when Mexico scored against South Korea during their match-up in Guadalajara.
As one Postmedia reporter on the scene described it: Granville Street was rocking.
“What a night in Vancouver,” wrote Prime Minister Mark Carney on Bluesky. Carney was at the game at B.C. Place Stadium Thursday night in Vancouver, and was photographed getting into the spirit and celebrating after a goal.
Vancouver police said earlier in the day that the vibe downtown was cheerful and there were no major incidents . As of 8:30 p.m., there were no reports from the VPD about any serious altercations connected to World Cup party goers in Vancouver.
Not everyone stayed downtown. At North Vancouver’s Shipyards, the family-friendly watch party of about 5,000 fans emptied out after the game. The SkyTrain and buses were packed with revellers on a late commute home, still waving their flags. At Waterfront Station a group of happy fans sang the national anthem.
Over at the FIFA Fan Fest at Vancouver’s PNE, some planned to celebrate until staff closed the doors around 10 p.m.
At North Vancouver’s Canada Soccer House, thousands of fans screamed as Canada scored its first, second and then third goal in the first half. By the end of game and a sweet six goals, they were jumping up and down.
The cheering crowd broke out into a chorus of ‘Ole Ole’ after the third strike. Kari Chyzyk told Postmedia that after Canada scored the third goal in the first half of the game, pandemonium erupted. She said everyone was jumping and screaming and high-fiving each other.
—With files from Lori Culbert and Dan Fumano