By Nicole Fernandes
TORONTO, May 9 (Reuters) - Major League Soccer's Toronto FC attracted their largest attendance at BMO Field in the club's history on Saturday for a clash with Lionel Messi's Inter Miami that served as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup matches being held at the venue.
Nearly 45,000 fans, many in Miami's pink and black colours and Argentina’s blue and white, packed into the World Cup’s smallest venue to see the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, giving the city a taste of what's to come
when it hosts six matches.
“This weekend will serve as a real life test run with a number of high attendance sporting events in town,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said on Friday, also referring to a pair of Toronto Blue Jays games and the Sporting Life 10K event.
The allure of Messi, who scored in Miami’s 4-2 win, helped draw a crowd of 44,828 that offered Toronto services a chance to see how they will perform with similar large crowds, from getting fans in and out of the stadium to transit operations.
BMO Field security was put to the test on Saturday when several pitch invaders tried to race across the field hoping to reach the 38-year-old Argentine as the clock wound down.
“This weekend’s match is a valuable opportunity for city divisions, emergency services, transit agencies, venue operators and other partners to work together in a live event setting, to test and refine as required before the matches begin,” Sharon Bollenbach, executive director of the World Cup 2026 Toronto Secretariat, said in a statement to Reuters.
The World Cup is expected to bring more than 300,000 visitors to Toronto, the city has previously said.
Saturday's match was Toronto FC's final outing at BMO Field before the June 11-July 19 tournament.
The stadium had a $158 million facelift that added 17,000 temporary seats behind the goals to meet World Cup capacity standards. The seating was used for the first time on Saturday.
The steep stands drew criticism online in March over the safety of the scaffolding, with one person writing on X: “Just saw a photo of BMO’s temporary seating. Respectfully, you couldn’t pay me to climb, stand or sit on that.”
But the temporary seats did not appear to be an issue for fans on Saturday, with some in the highest back rows opting to stand with their backs against the railings to watch the match and take in the views of Lake Ontario after the final whistle.
Metrolinx, which runs the city's GO train service, said in a statement on Wednesday it was using the match as a “readiness test” with more frequent service to the station near BMO Field for games plus extra safety and crowd management measures.
The World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, is expected to bring approximately half a million additional riders on its services, Metrolinx said on Friday.
Canada open their World Cup campaign against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the BMO Stadium on June 12. They also face 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar and Switzerland in Group B.
(Reporting by Nicole Fernandes in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
