Why Ronaldo, Portugal Praised Toronto’s Fan Turnout and the World Cup’s Smallest Stadium

Toronto’s Portuguese community offered unparalleled support for the Seleção das Quinas.

Cristiano Ronaldo (right) scored his first World Cup knockout goal at Toronto’s BMO Field on Thursday. | Indrawan Kumala/Getty Images, Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images

Portugal manager Roberto Martínez said “it’s a shame” that Toronto won’t host more matches at the 2026 World Cup, as the city with the smallest stadium in the tournament earned its final rave reviews after Portugal defeated Croatia 2–1 in a thrilling round of 32 clash on Thursday. 

BMO Field, usually with a 28,000-person capacity for the MLS side Toronto FC, was expanded to 45,036 for the World Cup, as organizers constructed two massive temporary stands on the north and south sides of the stadium, which previously held smaller capacities. 

As much as those stands appeared subpar on the broadcast, they offered strong sightlines and kept spectators close to the touchlines, unlike many of the larger NFL-style stadiums used elsewhere. At the same time, the only soccer-specific World Cup stadium outside of Mexico had multiple fan-marching routes and easy access from downtown Toronto, making matchdays a short commute. 

For Portugal, it meant a home-like atmosphere in the round of 32. Fans flooded the streets for several miles from the team’s hotel east of the stadium and a park to the north, with larger crowds than those seen among the already impressive turnouts from Canada, Ghana, Iraq and Germany fans across the six matches. 

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With over 240,500 Portuguese people in Toronto, the city has one of the world’s largest Portuguese diasporas, making Thursday’s game—which prior to kickoff had the possibility of being Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup match—a massive draw, especially against Croatia, with nearly 100,000 people of Croatian descent in the province of Ontario. 

 “I think it’s a shame that there are no more games here in Toronto, because we really enjoyed that,” Martínez reflected. “Wonderfully supported game with two sets of fans committed to the teams. I thought it was an incredible, incredible spectacle for football.

“The quality of the grass was fantastic, and everything around the beautiful facilities here. Even the dressing room reminds me a lot of the old-fashioned Premier League rooms, a wonderful feeling. Congratulations to everybody.”

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Portuguese Fans Flood the Streets

𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗢. ❤️‍🔥 #VaiDarPortugal | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/xtFYyxfO2G

— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) July 2, 2026

Toronto’s Little Portugal neighbourhood partied late into early Friday morning with impromptu fireworks after the VAR-ridden win over Croatia, which saw Ronaldo score from the penalty spot and Gonçalo Ramos net the impressive and eventual winning goal. 

Since the team arrived in the fourth-largest city in North America, Portuguese fans surrounded the team’s hotel, looking for a glimpse of Ronaldo and other stars, all of whom waved to the crowds from the patios at several points. 

Toronto ❤️ pic.twitter.com/AoxUJ0mZcB

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) July 3, 2026

“Obrigado, Toronto,” Ronaldo posted to his Instagram after the win, with images of red, green and gold pumping through the city. 

“[It’s] amazing, it’s the first time I’ve arrived in Canada,” Martínez added. “Congratulations to everybody, to the organizers, to everybody who is involved in football, in soccer, in the city. The welcome that we had was incredible.”

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Toronto Taken by World Cup Fever

Canada’s fans were out early before the World Cup opener. | Ben Steiner

For a city that had never hosted a major international sporting event outside the 2015 Pan American Games, Toronto embraced the World Cup. Lauded as the most multicultural city in the world, Toronto drew fans from each of the 10 nations that played at BMO Field in significant numbers.  

After Ghana’s late 1–0 win over Panama, the city’s central downtown square, Sankofa Square, filled with Ghanaian fans in scenes not seen since the city’s NBA franchise, the Toronto Raptors, won the 2019 NBA title. 

FT: Ghana 1-0 Panama

Thousands of Ghanaians that didn’t make it to the stadium are celebrating at Sankofa Square here in Toronto, Ontario

There are an estimated 50,000 Ghanaians in the Greater Toronto Area pic.twitter.com/8pksa5mtmM

— Maher Mezahi (@MezahiMaher) June 18, 2026

In addition to the postgame celebrations, the organized marches to the match along the shore of Lake Ontario and from nearby parks to the north offered a unique twist on the parking-lot-heavy U.S. stadiums. 

Just hours after the final whistle that wrapped up Toronto’s World Cup schedule, workers were already taking down parts of the scaffolding for the temporary stands, as the stadium began reverting to its former self, except for a new hospitality area at the north end. 

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