- 226-348-4177
- [email protected]
- 1315 Lawrence Ave E,unit 406, M3A 3R3, North York, Ontario
You’ve got your ticket. You’ve booked your flights. You know which match you’re seeing.
Now comes the question that every visiting fan eventually lands on, usually while staring at a hotel booking page at midnight: the game is at 3pm, or 7pm, or 4pm — what do you actually do with the rest of the day?
This is a real problem in Toronto, and it’s one that’s easy to solve if you know the city. If you don’t, you end up wandering around Exhibition Place after security checks have already closed half the surrounding streets, eating overpriced food from a pop-up stand, and wondering why nobody told you where to go.
This guide tells you where to go. It’s organized by what actually makes sense for a World Cup match day in Toronto — before the game, after the game, and what to do if you have a full day to fill around a single afternoon or evening kickoff.
First, the schedule. Then the strategy.
Toronto is hosting six FIFA World Cup 2026 matches at BMO Field — five group-stage games and one Round of 32 knockout match:
The June 12 Canada match is the one that’s going to hit differently. This is Canada’s first-ever men’s World Cup home match — the second game of the entire 2026 tournament, and the most emotionally significant fixture in Canadian football history. If you have a ticket for that one, or you’re planning to be anywhere near the city that day, plan accordingly. The streets will be unlike anything Toronto has experienced before.
Before you can plan your day, you need to understand where the stadium sits in the city — because it’s not downtown in the way most people picture.
BMO Field is at 170 Princes’ Blvd, Exhibition Place, Toronto — a venue that sits along the western lakeshore, slightly removed from the main downtown core. It’s not in the middle of the financial district or the Entertainment District. It’s at Exhibition Place, which is essentially its own self-contained site on the waterfront, bounded by the Gardiner Expressway to the north and Lake Ontario to the south.
What this means practically: the area immediately surrounding the stadium is going to be packed with match-day infrastructure — fan zones, security perimeters, street closures, crowd control. FIFA match security is significantly stricter than regular sporting events. Arrive at least 2.5 to 3 hours before kickoff to clear security — 45 to 60 minute queues are realistic based on previous FIFA tournaments.
So your match day isn’t really “get there an hour before kickoff and grab a beer outside the stadium.” It’s plan your entire day around the game, account for security time, and use the neighbourhood to the north — Liberty Village — as your base.
Liberty Village is the neighbourhood immediately north of BMO Field, accessible on foot through the GO Train station or via a straightforward walk up Strachan or Dufferin. It’s the right answer to “where should I spend time before or after the match” — and it’s genuinely one of Toronto’s most enjoyable neighbourhoods to be in on a summer afternoon.
Liberty Village has over 40 restaurants, cafes, and bars within walking distance, multiple gyms, Liberty Village Park, and BMO Field is a 10-minute walk away.
Here’s how to use it properly on a match day.
Mildred’s Temple Kitchen is the Liberty Village institution. It’s been there for decades, the food is genuinely excellent, and it handles the volume of a match day better than most spots in the neighbourhood. Go early — it fills fast on weekend afternoons. The brunch menu runs until mid-afternoon, and the eggs Benedict options are the real reason people line up.
School Restaurant is the other reliable brunch spot. School is known for its decadent French toast and creative menu — the kind of place that immediately puts you in a good mood. Good option for a pre-match morning meal before the crowds hit the neighbourhood.
Brazen Head Irish Pub at 165 East Liberty is the classic pre-match gathering spot. It has two levels of patio seating, ideal for summer game days, and it’s a 12-minute walk from BMO Field. It will be packed on every match day — arrive early or accept that you’re standing. The atmosphere on Canada match day is going to be something special.
Kinton Ramen in Liberty Village is the right call if you want something proper to eat rather than pub food. The pork broth is the best option, the karaage chicken is worth ordering as a starter, and it handles high volumes without collapsing under the pressure.
Arvo Coffee on East Liberty is where you go in the morning to actually wake up before a long match day. Good coffee, natural light, the kind of calm that disappears by noon on game days.
Liberty Commons at Big Rock Brewery — large patio, multiple screens, the post-match option if you want to stay in the neighbourhood and keep going after the final whistle.
The most convenient transit option is GO Transit from Union Station to Exhibition GO Station — a 10-minute journey. TTC streetcar routes 504 (King) and 509 (Harbourfront) also serve the venue. Driving is possible but parking fills early.
The honest advice is: don’t drive. Get a PRESTO card if you don’t have one — it works on both TTC and GO Transit. Build extra time into every journey. The city is predicting Toronto’s traffic will increase by 10 to 15 per cent during the World Cup. On Canada match day it will be worse than that.
If you don’t have tickets to a match, or you want something to do on a non-match day while you’re in the city, this is the answer.
The official FIFA Fan Festival for Toronto will be staged at Fort York National Historic Site and The Bentway, with live screenings of every World Cup match, food vendors, and concerts.
Fort York is a genuinely interesting site independent of the World Cup — it’s a preserved National Historic Site that dates to the War of 1812, sitting in an unusual pocket of the city between the Gardiner Expressway and Liberty Village. The Bentway, the linear park and arts space that runs underneath the Gardiner, is one of Toronto’s genuinely creative public spaces.
The combination of the two as a free fan zone is smart. You can watch every match of the tournament on large screens, explore the historic site, eat from food vendors, and catch live music — all without a ticket, all within easy walking distance of BMO Field. It’s the right option for days when you’re in the city but don’t have a seat at the stadium.
Here’s the scenario most visiting fans are actually in: you arrive in Toronto the day before or the morning of your match, you have a whole day to fill, and the game doesn’t start until 3pm or 7pm. What do you actually do?
The answer depends on what you’re looking for. Here are the real options, organised honestly.
The waterfront walk is underrated. The Martin Goodman Trail runs along Lake Ontario from the western waterfront all the way east to the beaches, and the stretch near Exhibition Place and Fort York is genuinely beautiful in June. Walk it, rent a bike, or just sit on the waterfront and take in the fact that you’re in Canada for the World Cup. It costs nothing.
CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium are in the downtown core, accessible via TTC. If you’ve never been and you have the morning free, the CN Tower view is worth doing once — the glass floor and the EdgeWalk are the parts people remember. Ripley’s Aquarium next door is a good hour-long option, especially if you’re travelling with kids.
Kensington Market and Chinatown are the best places in Toronto to actually see the city rather than the tourist infrastructure of the city. They’re adjacent to each other on the west side of downtown. Walk through both on the same morning — Kensington is the kind of neighbourhood where independent shops, vintage stores, food stalls, and cafes exist in a genuinely organic way that Toronto does better than almost any other North American city. Good for two or three hours of wandering.
Distillery District is the Instagram-friendly option — a Victorian industrial site converted into galleries, restaurants, and shops. It’s beautiful and it’s well-designed, and it can absorb a lot of tourist volume without feeling overwhelmed. Good for a morning coffee and a walk before heading west toward the stadium.
This is where the evening or night match timing actually works in your favour.
After a 7pm match, you’re out of the stadium by 9:30 or 10pm, and Toronto is fully alive. The city’s entertainment district on King Street West is the obvious direction — bars, restaurants, clubs, all accessible via TTC streetcar from Exhibition Place. The waterfront itself stays active on summer evenings.
After a 3pm or 4pm match, you have an entire evening ahead. This is where a genuinely memorable Toronto experience is there for the taking — if you know where to look.
Here’s the thing about attending a World Cup match that nobody quite prepares you for: the game lasts 90 minutes. The rest of the day — before the security queues, after the final whistle, the evening after — is actually where the lasting memories get made.
A scarf you bought from a vendor outside the stadium tells you nothing about the city you were in when you watched Canada play their first-ever World Cup home match. A mass-produced t-shirt does the same job. But something you made yourself, in Toronto, with your own hands, during the most significant football summer in Canadian history? That’s a different category of souvenir entirely.
ZuoZuo Studio, our creative workshop space in North York, is open Thursday through Sunday — which covers four of the six Toronto match days directly. We offer three hands-on experiences:
Rug Tufting — design and create your own custom rug, loop by loop, using a professional tufting gun. Choose your design, choose your colors from our extensive yarn range, and spend two to six hours making something real. Bring your national colors. Make your team’s crest. Make something abstract that captures the feeling of the day. Prices run from $110 for a Small (50x50cm) to $210 for an X-Large (100x120cm), everything included.
Fluid Bear Painting — choose a white bear figurine and apply fluid acrylic paint in the colors of your choice. The paint flows and blends in ways that are partly yours and partly their own — no two bears ever come out the same. Good for groups who want something quicker (two to three hours) and intensely visual. Sizes from $65 (9-inch) to $300 (29-inch), with KAWS-style options from $85.
Pearl Jewelry Making — open a live clam, reveal your pearl, and use it to craft a piece of jewelry you’ll actually wear home. The Buy 1 Get 1 Free structure ($150 for two people) makes this the natural choice for couples or pairs traveling together. It runs about 90 minutes and produces something genuinely personal.
The studio is welcoming, unhurried, and full of color. We’ve hosted thousands of guests from across Toronto and beyond — including plenty of first-timers who had never done anything like this before and walked out surprised by what they’d made.
For World Cup visitors, the suggestion is this: book a morning or early afternoon session at ZuoZuo on your match day for a 3pm or later kickoff, or book an evening session on an adjacent day when you have the whole day free. Make something that captures the fact that you were in Toronto in June 2026 — not just another photograph, but something you built with your hands during the most historic summer in Canadian football.
📍 1315 Lawrence Ave E, Unit 406, North York, Toronto 📞 226-348-4177 📩 [email protected] 🕐 Thursday – Sunday | 12pm – 8pm 🌐 zuozuostudio.ca
Here’s how a well-planned match day actually looks, depending on your kickoff time:
9:00am — Breakfast at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen or School Restaurant in Liberty Village. Arrive before 10am to avoid the pre-match crowds building later.
10:30am — ZuoZuo Studio morning session (book in advance). Create a rug, fluid bear, or pearl jewelry piece as your Toronto World Cup keepsake. Sessions start from 12pm Thursday to Sunday — plan your breakfast accordingly to arrive at opening.
12:00pm — Walk the waterfront trail between Fort York and Exhibition Place. Take in the pre-match atmosphere building around the Fan Festival at Fort York.
12:30pm — Head to Brazen Head or Liberty Commons for a pre-match drink with the crowd. The atmosphere in Liberty Village before a Canada match is going to be extraordinary.
1:30pm — Begin moving toward BMO Field. Security queues will be building. Get in line well before kickoff.
3:00pm — Match.
5:30pm / 6:00pm — After the final whistle, the neighbourhood and the fan zones take over. Stay in Liberty Village, head to the Fort York Fan Festival for the evening programming, or take the TTC or GO Train into the downtown core.
All day free until late afternoon. Use the morning for the city — Kensington, the Distillery District, the waterfront, a ZuoZuo session booked for noon or early afternoon.
4:30pm — Head toward Liberty Village. Dinner before the game. The neighbourhood will be buzzing by this point.
5:30pm — Start moving toward the stadium. Evening security queues can be longer as more people compress into the pre-kickoff window.
7:00pm — Match.
9:30pm or later — Toronto is fully alive at this point. King Street West, the waterfront, the fan zones are all running. The night is yours.
Weather in June: Toronto in early June is typically warm and occasionally humid. Afternoon temperatures run 20–25°C. Evening matches have the most comfortable conditions, but afternoon kickoffs during a Toronto June can feel warm. Bring sunscreen if you’re in uncovered seating. Occasional rain showers happen — a small packable rain jacket is worth having.
Getting from the Airport: Use the UP Express from Toronto Pearson Airport to Union Station — it’s the fastest airport-to-downtown transfer, well-connected to both GO Transit and TTC for onward travel to Liberty Village and Exhibition Place.
Currency: Canada uses the Canadian dollar. Most places accept international cards without issue. Contactless payment works everywhere you’d want to go.
No US visa required: Canada is an independent country with its own entry requirements. If you need a visa to visit Canada, apply at the Government of Canada website. Most visitors need only an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization) for short stays — simpler and cheaper than a US visa.
Language: Toronto is predominantly English-speaking, but it’s also one of the most multilingual cities in the world. You’ll find significant communities speaking Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Tagalog, and dozens of other languages across different neighbourhoods. The city absorbs international visitors naturally.
The World Cup comes to Canadian soil for the first time in history this June. Toronto is hosting six matches across three weeks, culminating in a Round of 32 knockout fixture on July 2. There has never been a summer like this one in this city.
Most visiting fans will spend their time at the match and a few hours in the surrounding neighbourhood. A smaller number will use the extra hours to do something in Toronto they’ll actually remember for longer than the scoreline — something that captures the specific, unrepeatable fact that they were here, in this city, during this summer.
ZuoZuo is open Thursday through Sunday, 12pm to 8pm. Sessions fill up — especially in June 2026, when Toronto is going to have more visitors than it’s ever had in its history.
Book early at zuozuostudio.ca.
📍 ZuoZuo Studio — 1315 Lawrence Ave E, Unit 406, North York, Toronto 📞 226-348-4277 📩 [email protected] 🕐 Thursday – Sunday | 12pm – 8pm
1315 Lawrence Ave E,unit 406, M3A 3R3, North York, Ontario
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