Interest in Canadian men's soccer team has grown since World Cup appearance: survey

As the FIFA men’s World Cup heads begins to wrap up, a new survey shows that, since the start of the tournament in Qatar, interest in the national men’s soccer team has increased among Canadians.

In a survey conducted by Research Co., results show that 24 per cent of respondents from across Canada acknowledged that they are more interested in the men’s national soccer team than they were before its participation in the World Cup. That includes 29 per cent of men and 26 per cent of Canadians aged 18-34.

More than half of Canadians (51 per cent), however, said their interest in the team has not changed since its appearance at the World Cup, but a small percentage of Canadians (9 per cent) stated that they are less interested now than before.

When asked about the match between Canada and Belgium on Nov. 23, 35 per cent said they watched at least part of the match.

“One in four men (24 per cent) saw Canada’s entire match against Belgium during Qatar 2022.” Research Co. president Mario Canseco said in a news release. “On a regional basis, Ontario (24 per cent) was ahead of all regions on following the entire contest.”

After the loss to Belgium, 35 per cent of respondents again said they watched at least part of Canada’s second match against Croatia on Nov. 27. But Canada’s third and final match against Morocco on Dec.1 was only watched by 29 per cent.

According to the survey, while interest in the team seems to have grown, only about one in six (15 per cent) Canadians described themselves as “true soccer fans” who enjoy watching and following the game. A slightly larger number of Canadians (17 per cent) said they do not follow the game all the time and only watch as many matches as they can.

Research Co. data shows that 27 per cent of Canadians stated soccer is not their favourite sport but will still watch a match now and then. Forty-one per cent said they don’t really care for the beautiful game.

Thirty-eight per cent of respondents said they have followed this edition of the World Cup “very closely” or “moderately closely”— including 49 per cent of Canadians 18 to 34, 48 per cent of men and 52 per cent among Ontarians.

METHODOLOGY

The survey was conducted on Dec. 6-7 and included responses from 1,000 Canadian adults. The data was statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in Canada, according to Research Co. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

 

Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.