More than a third of Canadians tuned in to at least some of the FIFA World Cup matches against Belgium and Croatia.
Vancouver, BC [December 13, 2022] – While only about one-in-six Canadians acknowledge being “true soccer fans”, interest in the Men’s National Team has increased since the start of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 15% of Canadians describe themselves as soccer fans, who truly enjoy watching the game, while 17% say they watch soccer as much as they can, but do not follow it all the time.
More than a quarter of Canadians (27%) will watch a soccer match now and then, but it’s not their favourite sport, while 41% say they do not really care for soccer—including 50% of women, 50% of those aged 55 and over and 57% of Atlantic Canadians.
Just under two-in-five Canadians (38%) say they have followed the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup “very closely” or “moderately closely”—a proportion that rises to 49% among Canadians aged 18-to-34, 48% among men and 52% among Ontarians.
More than a third of Canadians (35%) watched the whole match or some parts of the FIFA World Cup match between Canada and Belgium on November 23.
“One-in-four men (24%) saw Canada’s entire match against Belgium during Qatar 2022,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “On a regional basis, Ontario (24%) was ahead of all regions on following the entire contest.”
Canada’s second contest, against Croatia on November 27, was also watched completely or partially by 35% of Canadians. The numbers were lower (29%) for the third and final match against Morocco on December 1.
Across the country, 24% of Canadians say they are more interested in Canada’s national team than before its participation in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup—including 29% of men and 26% of Canadians aged 18-to-34.
Half of Canadians (51%) say their interest in the Men’s National Team has not changed as a result of the World Cup, while 9% are less interested now than before.
Results are based on an online study conducted on December 6 and December 7, 2022, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in Canada. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490 [e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca