National Sports Survey Solidifies Soccer as Canada’s Sport of the Future
FIFA World Cup sparks unprecedented growth in soccer interest, support for CANMNT and awareness of the sport in Canada
Soccer, the most participated youth sport in Canada, climbed to the number one spot, overtaking hockey, among Canadians aged 18-29, cementing it as the sport of the future, and saw growth in every other age cohort, and among men and women nationally. For Canadians not born in Canada, soccer maintained its large lead as the top sport in the country.
Overall, soccer is now Canada's second favourite sport following the FIFA World Cup, according to new national research conducted by Abacus Data. This jump for the sport of soccer in Canada represents a two-percentage point increase from this Spring’s national survey results. The growth has propelled soccer past baseball, leaving only hockey ahead in Canadians' sporting preferences.
The research also found that 54 percent of Canadian adults now have at least some interest in soccer, an increase of six percentage points since research was conducted in May 2026. This increase is the equivalent to nearly two million more Canadians and bringing the total number of Canadians interested in the sport to nearly 18 million adults.
"The FIFA World Cup has transformed the place of soccer in Canada's sporting landscape. Millions more Canadians are now connected to our sport, our National Teams and our players. Soccer has never been more relevant in this country, and our responsibility now is to turn this unprecedented momentum into lasting growth at every level of the game."
-Peter Augruso, President, Canada Soccer
Canada Soccer's Men's National Team (CANMNT) is now the seventh most popular sports team in Canada, when staked up against all other Canadian professional teams in every sport and is the number one National Team in all sports.
“Sporting preferences are among the most stable attitudes we measure, so movement of this size in two months is remarkable. The gains are broad across age groups, regions, and among both men and women, showing that soccer’s growth in Canada is reaching new audiences across the country. The World Cup has been a catalyst for deeper engagement and has strengthened soccer’s position among Canada’s leading sports.”
-David Coletto, Founder and CEO of Abacus Data
Among the key findings:
- Soccer is now Canada's second favourite sport, with 12 percent of Canadians identifying it as their favourite sport to watch or play.
- Nearly two million more Canadians are interested in soccer than just two months ago, bringing the total audience to almost 18 million adults.
- Canadians who say CANMNT is their favourite sports team nearly doubled, rising from five percent to nine percent nationally, equivalent to approximately 1.3 million new supporters.
- 69 percent of adult Canadians saw coverage of CANMNT during the FIFA World Cup, while 47 percent followed the team at least somewhat closely.
- Interest in soccer gains were largest among Canadians aged 30-44s (+10), SK/MB (+10), Canadians aged 18-29s (+9), Albertans (+9) and Canadians born outside Canada (+9).
The FIFA World Cup also drove record growth across every major measure of engagement. Support for CANMNT nearly doubled awareness of Canada Soccer and reached an all-time high with seven in ten Canadians following the team's historic World Cup journey.
In the past six weeks, Canada Soccer’s owned social media accounts grew by a combined 1.1 million followers, now standing at a cumulative 2.7 million fans across all social media platforms.
The survey was conducted online by Abacus Data between July 14 and 16, 2026, among a nationally representative sample of 1,500 Canadian adults. The results carry a margin of error equivalent to ±2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Paulo Senra