Plus, Huntsville Soccer Club job opportunities, Referees Needed, Huntsville Indoor League update, the Asian Cup, AFCON, and UEFA competitions back this week

There was great excitement recently as the announcement for the 2026 World Cup match allocation took place.

In case you hadn’t heard, Toronto will get six matches (five group stage and one in the Round-of-32), while Vancouver is getting seven (five group stage, one each in the Round-of-32 and Round-of-16).

More than just how many matches would be allocated, it ended up being one more that originally anticipated in Toronto and two more in Vancouver, would be how to get tickets.

While the official statement at this point is that tickets will be made available through the official FIFA World Cup ticket lottery (me and a bunch of my friends put our names in a couple years ago), I believe there may be some conversations being had (or at least these conversations should be had) to give first dibs on tickets for at least one match to Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps season ticket holders.

Why do I believe those conversations should be had? Well, even though I have had my TFC season tickets since well before the World Cup announcement, I know that there were many insinuations during sales pitches that season ticket holders at BMO Field would get advanced access for tickets to at least one World Cup game.

Friends of mine who are brutally honest people each confirm that this was the case in recent years.

But let’s pretend the insinuations and sales pitches never happened. The truth of the matter is that season ticket holders – especially those who have been supporters of the clubs in Toronto and Vancouver prior to the World Cup announcement – should be shown appreciation for their loyalty by offering advanced ticket sales to at least one game.

The opening game in Toronto featuring Team Canada is an easy choice as it rewards Canadian soccer fans with the chance to see our national team in action. While a subsequent Canadian national team match in Vancouver is another smart option.

I completely understand that a lottery for the majority of World Cup matches is the fair way to allocate seats . . . and I’m happy to do a road trip to see matches in the United States if I happen to be selected.

However, showing appreciation to season ticket holders in each Canadian host city by offering a chance to see our national team play one match is the least Canada Soccer, FIFA, and the respective clubs can do to say, “thank you for your years of support.”

I would even go as far to say that season ticket holders of either MLS or Liga MX teams in every host city – from Toronto to Miami, Vancouver to Guadalajara – should get dibs on tickets for at least one World Cup match.

We may be welcoming the World into our home, but let’s make sure to take care of the foundation first.

HUNTSVILLE SOCCER CLUB PAID POSITIONS OPEN

The Huntsville Soccer Club is looking for two program coordinators for our summer youth house league season.

This is a fun contract position for high school students or even post-secondary students looking to earn some extra funds while on their break. It can be a supplementary position to other part-time jobs or summer jobs as the hours and days are pre-determined.

The contract runs from May 15 to July 29 with an average of 12 hours per week (Monday through Thursday each week from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. each day) and one full day shift required on Saturday, July 27 for Soccer Day in Huntsville.

The hours could vary depending on need as well with duties including assisting in running the nightly house league programs, field set-up and takedown, supporting the volunteer coaches, interacting with parents and players, communicating with the HSC executive team, and more.

Interested candidates should send their resume and cover letter to the HSC Administrator.

Those looking for more information ahead of submitting their resume and cover letter can reach out to me at vicepresident@huntsvillesoccer.ca

REFEREES NEEDED FOR THIS SUMMER IN MUSKOKA

Glen Duffield, head referee for both the Huntsville Soccer Club and Muskoka United FC, is looking for referees to train and work the pitches this summer.

Once trained and certified, referees and assistant referees will have the opportunity to officiate games in Huntsville and Bracebridge throughout the spring, summer and fall.

These are paid positions and provide some solid extra funds while getting fresh air and activity while supporting a great sport throughout the region.

Those interested in finding out more about becoming a paid match official in Muskoka can contact headreferee@huntsvillesoccer.ca

HUNTSVILLE INDOOR LEAGUE

This week was a bye-week in the 2024 edition of the Huntsville Soccer Club Indoor League. The league standings remain the same.

Action resumes on February 13, Papa Raff’s birthday, so we’ll have to score one for him.

Standings (as of Feb. 10)

AFC – ASIAN CUP FINAL

It is a tad bit annoying that the Asian Cup final is being contested between the host nation Qatar and their neighbours in Jordan.

While I did indicate wanting to see South Korea, who fell unceremoniously to Jordan in the semi-final round, the way Iran played in their 3-2 semi-final defeat to Qatar (and throughout the tournament) made them worthy of a final appearance.

Unfortunately, that semi-final was probably the match of the tournament (funny how many times that happens … that is a column for another day though) and we’ll likely see Qatar win a relatively uninspiring match over Jordan (Saturday, Feb. 10 at 10 a.m. live on YouTube).

I’ll update this column with the result later on.

african cup of nations – AFCON

In what has been a fantastic tournament all around has the final we all wanted to see (well, except for DR Congo and South Africa, who play in the third-place match on Feb. 10 at 3 p.m.).

The host nation Cote d’Ivoire against Nigeria with both teams featuring plenty of European-club based star talent.

On the Cote d’Ivoire side there are plenty of household names for football fans, including squad captain Serge Aurier of Galatasaray, Nottingham Forest duo Ibrahim Sangaré and Willy Boly, Fiorentina’s Christian Kouamé, AS Roma’s Evan Ndicka, Monaco’s Wilfried Singo, Dortmund’s Sebastian Haller and more.

The Nigerians feature a fearsome set of attacking options in Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman and AC Milan’s Samuel Chukwueze. The rest of the roster are no pushovers, with Fulham’s Alex Iwobi, Brentford’s Frank Onyeka, Nottingham’s Ola Aina, and many others featuring in top flight leagues.

Let’s hope the final gives us one last super entertaining match with the host nation coming out on top of a multi-goal thriller.

The AFCON final can be found live streaming on FuboTV on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 3 p.m.

EUROPEAN COMPETITIONS BACK THIS WEEK

It’s always feels like such a long break between the group stages and the knockout rounds for UEFA’s competitions – the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.

The group stages end by Christmas and the knockout rounds begin in February (it’s not that long in the grand scheme of things, but it’s winter so it feels longer). Next year’s competitions will be revamped (for the better) and we’ll touch on those in a later column.

All Champions League and Europa League, plus select Conference League, matches are available for live stream on DAZN Canada.

For now, let’s look at our picks for most intriguing match-ups for the first round of the knockouts in each competition . . .

Champions League

Inter Milan against Atletico Madrid (first leg Feb. 20, second leg March 13). This one could easily be a final in the competition or a stellar semi-final at least. The defending Italian champions who were finalists in the Champions League last year (but with a couple bounces could have been title holders) and an always-on-the-verge of greatness Aleti club that is full of talent and fight. This has the makings of an all-time classic match-up.

Other interesting ties that could fall in either direction include another Serie A vs. La Liga match-up with Barcelona taking on Napoli (Feb. 21/ March 12), Dortmund vs. PSV Eindhoven (Feb. 20/ March 13), Real Madrid vs. Leipzig (February 13/March 6), and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Real Sociedad (Feb. 14/ March 5).

Match-ups that should be routes for the favourites (listed first): Bayern vs. Lazio (Feb. 14/March 5), Manchester City vs. Copenhagen (Feb. 13/March 6), and Arsenal vs. Porto (Feb. 21/March 12).

Europa League

AS Roma vs. Feyenoord (February 15 at 12:45 p.m. EST and February 22 at 3 p.m.). Sorry/not sorry but I’m being totally supporter selfish on this choice, but it does promise to be an interesting tie with AS Roma and Feyenoord facing each other for the third straight season in Europe. Two seasons ago, Roma beat Feyenoord in the final of the inaugural Conference League final as Nicolo Zaniolo scored the cup winning goal. Last year, Roma fell 1-0 in the Netherlands before they beat Feyenoord 4-1 at the Stadio Olimpico pitch in the Europa League quarterfinals. This will be Roma’s first European tie since Jose Mourinho was replaced by Roman Gladiator, former Giallorossi captain (and my personal all-time favourite) Daniele De Rossi (aka DDR). The first match is at Feyenoord with the return in Rome (just like last season, only one round earlier). No predictions, just hopeful that our beloved comes out on top and give me a win for my birthday (February 22).

The rest of the KO round playoff matches, which all take place on February 15 and February 22 (first leg home teams listed first) …
Young Boys vs Sporting CP 
Galatasaray vs Sparta Praha 
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Marseille
Milan vs Rennes (3 p.m.)
Lens vs Freiburg (3 p.m.)
Benfica vs Toulouse (3 p.m.)
Braga vs Qarabağ (3 p.m.)

Conference League

Nothing too interesting in the KO Round playoffs with most of the big-name sides either in the other two competitions or awaiting in the next round.

So, here are the ties (all matches on Feb. 15/Feb. 22) with first leg home team listed first . . .
Sturm Graz vs Slovan Bratislava
Union SG vs Frankfurt
Olympiacos vs Ferencváros
Molde vs Legia
Servette vs Ludogorets
Real Betis vs Dinamo Zagreb
Ajax vs Bodø/Glimt
Maccabi Haifa vs Gent

STANDINGS
(As of February 3)

ada.

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