‘Cheer for the boys’: Fans flying to Houston for Canada’s historic World Cup match

Canada’s record-breaking World Cup run has captivated the country and spawned legions of new soccer fans, but most of them have not been following the men’s team around as loyally as Matty Alex.

He has witnessed the team’s magical journey throughout the tournament, from their opening match in Toronto to their 6-0 victory against Qatar in Vancouver and the historic win in Los Angeles, when Stephen Eustaquio’s goal in stoppage time against South Africa sent the team to the round of 16 for the first time.

Alex’s next stop is Houston, Texas, where Canada is playing against Morocco on Saturday. He will fly there on Friday morning to “cheer for the boys.”

Born in Brampton, Ont., the city that produced much of Canada’s mens soccer team, Alex said he became a soccer enthusiast and started playing when he was a kid.

“My father is Greek, and my mother’s side is English, so we were always a big football family,” he said in a phone interview. “(I) didn’t really adapt to hockey the way most Canadian children do. I’ve always been into soccer over any other sport.”

Growing up, Alex was always an England fan, but said he didn’t feel the same excitement when he watched the country play against Congo on Wednesday.

“I have something of my country, my identity to cheer for and root for,” he said. “Not saying I’m not a fan of England anymore … but you know … it shifted now because now I have Canada in the World Cup.”

While many Canadians are still in tune with their family’s heritage when it comes to soccer, his loyalty now fully lies with Canada because of the team’s outstanding performance.

“It’s a shift, and I think you’ll see the younger generations adapt to that because now they don’t have to run out and buy Messi and Ronaldo jerseys,” Alex said. “They’re going to have David, Eustáquio and Davies jerseys now to wear as children.”

Since the opening game in Toronto, Alex has been busy flying to watch Canada’s matches in other cities. When other World Cup teams play, he is throwing watch parties in his ground-level apartment and patio in Toronto’s Liberty Village to welcome fans from around the globe. He said he will host one Thursday night before flying to Houston the next morning.

It is hard to know the exact number of Canadians planning to travel to Houston for the game against Morocco, but demand has been high enough that Canada’s two major airlines had to replace the smaller aircraft with larger ones or add seating on their Houston-bound flights.

WestJet spokesperson Julia Kaiser said the airline is doing that for eight flights between Calgary and Houston “to make it easier for more Canadians to show up in full force and support our team on the international stage.”

Air Canada said it has also modified one of its flights from Toronto to Houston to provide more seats on a larger plane.

“We are evaluating the opportunity to add more capacity – however, our fleet is fully deployed as we are in the peak summer travel period,” it said in a statement.

With direct flights to Houston being limited and expensive, many fans are choosing connecting flights with long layovers. That includes Greg Perih, who was scheduled to fly out with his friend on Thursday evening from Vancouver to Seattle, where they have a six-hour layover before boarding another plane to Houston.

Perih said that after the game he will catch a flight back to Vancouver so he can be there for his daughter’s birthday on Sunday.

He watched Canada’s big win against Qatar at B.C. Place with the same friend who’s going to Houston.

“They’ve made us proud as a country, you know, getting our first point to start with, getting our first win … against Qatar in an exciting game,” he said, adding that it was one of the best days of his life.

Perih said he and his wife went to the stadium when Canada faced Switzerland, a game he called “inspirational” despite the 2-1 loss.

“It has been a lot of fun, it’s been lot of excitement,” he said.

In the 2022 World Cup, Canada lost to 2-1 to Morocco. Perih said even though the African team is better now compared to four years ago, Canada’s squad has also become stronger.

“I expect us to play formidably and be in there for a chance to surprise the world, really,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026.

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press