Montreal still has its name on a list of potential cities to host soccer's World Cup in 2026 — should a joint Canada-US-Mexico bid win the hosting rights.
A letter obtained by Radio-Canada, written by mayor Valerie Plante, to premier Philippe Couillard says the city expects it would spend $150 million to host soccer's largest event.
The Plante administration is hoping the costs could be shared by all three levels of government.
The city estimates it could host as many as six games which it estimated would bring in $209 million — five times more than the Grand Prix brings in.
There are two bids for the 2026 World Cup on the table for FIFA, soccer's world governing body, to choose from — the North American bid, and one from Morocco.
Even if the North American bid goes through, however, there's no guarantee that Montreal will get to host any of the games. If the bid goes through, Canada is expected to only see 10 matches — and Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver are also being considered.
Then, of course, there's the issue of where the matches would be played. As things stand now, Olympic Stadium is the only stadium that's big enough, in terms of capacity, to host World Cup games. The roof would have to be off, and a natural grass surface would need to be installed.