Every few weeks this summer, I know someone is going to say it. Maybe at a barbecue during a lull in conversation, maybe overheard at a bar while a match is playing: It's too bad Montreal isn't hosting. Maybe this will be said with the particular melancholic belief that the city got outbid, outbuilt, and outmuscled by a hungrier (or better prepared) Toronto and Vancouver. They will believe that Montreal got left behind.
This is the wrong take. The story is more interesting and more flattering to Montreal: We didn't fail to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but we did look at the contract, do the math, and told FIFA to take a hike.
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100% agree. Chicago. Phoenix. Minneapolis. All these cities came to similar conclusions.