“I’ll never miss a Canada World Cup game”: Meet the super fan heading to Houston for the round of 16

Dalen Brueckner is heading to Houston for Canada's round of 16 match and says he's been in the arena for all of their World Cup matches to this point in the tournament.

Dalen Brueckner was in Qatar in 2022 for Team Canada’s first men’s World Cup appearance since 1986.

“If you would’ve told me four years ago, hey Dalen, in four years you’re going to be watching Canada play the Netherlands or Morocco in the round of 16, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Brueckner said in an interview from his Los Angeles hotel room the morning after he watched Canada’s history-making round of 32 victory against South Africa.

“It’s hard to put into words. It was the best sporting moment of my life,” said Brueckner. “I’ve never shouted louder. I’ve never been so happy. I had to grab my seat after a while, because I was like, ‘What’s happening? You haven’t breathed in a long time.”

Brueckner road tripped from Vancouver to Los Angeles for the match with two other fans he met at the Canada-Switzerland game at BC Place last Wednesday.

“We’ll be friends forever. Will be close forever. When I get back to Vancouver, we’re already planning on getting together to relive the moment, because yesterday was so fast, so, so incredible. You don’t really get to have it sink in,” said Brueckner.

While his travel companions went home to B.C., Brueckner will be continuing on to Houston for the round of 16 match. He has been in the stadium for all four Canada matches.

“I’ll never miss a Canada World Cup game. We just save up those four years, and then we go crazy,” he said. “You only live once. And these are the moments that you remember forever. I’ve made some lifetime friends over this journey, and that’s what life’s about.”

TSN World Cup host James Duthie says having Canadian fans in the stadium will mean a lot to the team.

‘Means the world’: TSN host on Canada’s support south of the border

“Canada has long played tons of games where the entire crowd has been full of, whether it be Mexicans or whatever. So the history of Canadian soccer, they’re sort of used to being outnumbered and only having a handful of fans there. So the fact that there be a few thousand there, I think, means the world to them,” Duthie said in an interview from Los Angeles.

The longtime TSN host said he’s still buzzing from Sunday’s big win.

“I sat in my room last night after the game and watched for two hours videos of the goal, and the reaction on the Canadian players’ faces and the watch parties in Vancouver and everywhere else,” Duthie said, who added he’s constantly asked about the most memorable Canadian sports moments he’s covered.

“This is up there. Like, this is a top-three moment personally for me all time, just because it’s the World Cup and the Canadian men’s soccer program has come so far. It’s unreal,” Duthie said.

“To go from the start of the journey to here, yeah, it’s a little dizzying. But it’s incredible to be here. I can’t imagine what the players must feel, they should be so proud,” said Bruckner, who expects a solid Canada continent for the game on Saturday.

“My phone has been buzzing nonstop from people who are already booking flights to Houston,’ he said. “I would say Canadians are going to surprise again. They support our team, and they will be in Houston, and there will be a lot of red in the stands. We’ll be cheering our boys loud, and wow, we just can’t wait to watch them.”