Larry Zima is excited, as are — dare we say — at least hundreds of thousands if not millions of other Canadian soccer fans anxiously awaiting the start of next month’s FIFA World Cup in North America. And Zima – a local member of the Voyageurs Canadian national soccer teams supporter group – and tens of thousands spectators will help drum up even more frenzy on Monday, when the men’s squad takes the field at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium for a tune-up friendly against Uzbekistan. He recalls the last time the stadium hosted a national men’s team game: a now-legendary November 2021 World Cup qualifier that saw Canada defeat Mexico 2-1 before a crowd of 44,212 amid cold, snowy conditions and earned Commonwealth the nickname ‘Iceteca,’ a play on the name of the Mexican team’s home stadium, Estadio Azteca. The Nov. 16 affair went down as the coldest game the Mexican national men’s team has ever played in. Zima said he and his fellow Voyageurs are “looking forward to coming back” to the scene. “The last time we were here, it was ... a lot colder, but people are excited from across Canada to come back to this city,” he told CTV News Edmonton on Friday. The group is hosting a pre-game party on Sunday to help drum up even more support, as 46,000 tickets for the game have been purchased so far. The stadium will have a capacity of about 54,000 for the game. “That’ll be the largest crowd they’ve played in front of in Canada (since) Iceteca four years ago,” Zima said. “It’ll be larger than the crowd they get for the opener in Toronto (on June 12.) It’s a Western Canada crowd that’s coming. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, all over Alberta, including Calgary, is coming up.” Tim Kasper of Explore Edmonton, the city’s tourism arm, said “it’s a huge deal” for the Alberta capital to host the game, not only “in the sense of getting Canada and the world’s eyes on us through the broadcast, through social media, and kind of capitalizing on that energy that exists within the country for the World Cup, but from an economic impact perspective, we’re looking at north of $20 million being injected into the local economy just from one match, which is incredible.” “Some of the ticket data that we’ve seen to this point, there is a large portion of folks who will be coming in from outside of the market, (not only) from around the province, but from around the country and around North America as well, which is super exciting,” Kasper, Explore Edmonton’s manager of event attraction, told CTV News Edmonton. “Any time that we can leverage an opportunity like this to help drive people into Edmonton and really get to experience what the city’s like, especially in an environment like this, that’s the ultimate goal.” The Canadian men’s team will play one more warm-up friendly on June 5 in Montreal against Ireland as it prepares for the start of the FIFA World Cup, which is being staged in Canada for the first time, hosting the event alongside the United States and Mexico. Billed as the world’s biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup features 48 men’s national teams competing to be crowned global champions and will be played in 16 cities: 11 in the U.S., three in Mexico and two – Toronto and Vancouver – in Canada. For Monday’s friendly, Commonwealth’s gates will open at 6 p.m. before the 7 p.m. start time. The game will be televised nationally on TSN and French-language RDS, as well as on the OneSoccer streaming service. A grass pitch has been installed in the stadium for the game, with regular tenant the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League forced to conduct training camp and a Friday night exhibition game at neighbouring Clarke Stadium as a result. The Elks will move back to Commonwealth once crews have installed new turf and replaced the grass. The friendly with Uzbekistan would be a homecoming for Canada captain Alphonso Davies, an Edmonton native, who’s expected to make the roster but has missed all of training camp with a hamstring injury and is unlikely to play at Commonwealth. Pre-game fan festival A free pre-game fan fest will be held from 4:30-7:30 p.m. in Lot A immediately west of the stadium outside Gate 6. Activities include face-painting, dancing to music from a DJ, a photo booth, plus prizes and a merchandise tent. Getting to Commonwealth Transit Spectators are encouraged to take public transit to the stadium, with the City of Edmonton providing ticket-holders free fares to and from the game on buses and LRT. Stadium Station is a stop on the LRT’s Capital Line, while bus route nos. 2, 3 and 101 stop near the Stadium Transit Centre. Fare coverage begins at 5 p.m. and lasts until two hours after the game ends. Riders do not need to tap on or off at Arc validators but should be prepared to show their game ticket if requested by transit staff. Shuttle buses Shuttle service to the stadium by Edmonton Transit will be available from five different points across the city starting at 5:30 p.m., with continuous return service following the match until the Stadium is clear. Shuttle buses will run every five minutes from the north-side Eaux Claire Transit Centre, the west-end Lewis Farm Transit Centre, the north-central NAIT Parkade’s Lots A, B and D, St. Albert’s Naki Transit Centre and from downtown’s Churchill Square. Pick-up/drop-off zones Ride-share pick-up and drop-off areas will be on the northwest side of the stadium near Lot A and on the east side at 84 Street and 106A Avenue. The drop-off point for those using wheelchairs is Lot A, with accessibility via gate nos. 2, 6 and 11. Bike valet Bicycle riders can lock up their bikes on the northeast side of Clarke Stadium under the watchful eye of a bike valet. No vehicle parking at Commonwealth There will be no parking for vehicles available at the stadium. Neighbourhood parking restrictions will be in effect in the surrounding area. Parking for $16.50 is available about a 20-minute walk or a short LRT ride away east of the stadium at the Edmonton Expo Centre. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
