Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada, soccer is another tool to gloriously put us on the global stage with support and investment in immigrant talents a huge part of the equation!
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The FIFA World Cup has come and gone, but there’re three (3) crucial lessons to take home.
We can harness the power of immigration to gloriously put Canada on the global stage. A case study to learn from is France. This is even more important as Canada prepares to jointly host the 2026 FIFA World with Mexico and the US. We saw glimpses of what the Canadian Soccer Team is capable of doing at this tournament.
Now, Canada, let’s take it up a notch in 2026!
France’s second choice team, depleted by injuries, still made it all the way to the finals, and dragged Lionel Messi’s Argentina to penalty shootouts after winning the previous World Cup, powered in part by their contingent of players whose parents draw their heritage beyond the borders of France.
The investment and strategic support of soccer academies, clubs, and young talents, has definitely benefited France, a lesson we can draw from in Edmonton, Alberta and Canada, at a time where Edmonton FC, the only professional soccer club in Edmonton is going out of business due to lack of investment. The growing number of soccer fans in Edmonton and Alberta, will pray that the same attention, support, resources, and interest invested in Edmonton hosting games in the 2026 FIFA World, which were unsuccessful, could be invested in the only club that can give our kids a professional soccer experience to develop their talents into champions right here in our beloved city of champions- Edmonton.
It takes time to build success and accomplish dreams as Lionel Messi, arguably soccer’s finest, had to try four times in four different World Cups within over a 12-year period, to take home the trophy.
Despite how good you are, you don’t win, try try try again!
Belief is what the resilient Nothern African country of Morocco brings to the table. Since the days of 2010 when the African continent united behind South Africa to host the World Cup in Africa, Morocco didn’t, and placed the only other bid to host the tournament in 2010. Guess what? South Africa hosted the tournament but, the FIFA inspectors concluding that Morocco has what it takes to host it too. Fast forward to 2022, the dream persisted, the Atlas Lions of Morocco took it up a notch and gave an excellent account of themselves with a fourth place finish for a team ranked 22nd by FIFA before the tournament. They now look forward to hosting the FIFA Club World Cup and hopefully their ultimate prize – the FIFA World Cup in the future.
Never be defined by what someone, or a group think of you, but rather, by what you think of yourself, even if you have to go the long route or have to go it alone!
A bonus on this Diversity Lessons Learned session is from the small central, Southeastern European country of Croatia, with a population of just about four million, but made it to a second place finish in the last FIFA World Cup, and third place in this tournament, making a strong case that we can be good at some things and even be better at it than those with billions and millions of talents to draw from.
Size, colour, class, culture, in fact nothing determine how well we can compete but only ourselves!
