On Thursday, FIFA approved a fast-tracked bidding procedure for the 2026 World Cup, with the joint-bid of Canada, the United States and Mexico as the favourites to host. It’s looking more likely that Canada, and Toronto in particular, will host the World Cup for the first time ever.



That’s good news for Paul Beirne, the Toronto-based project manager of the Canadian Premier League. The CPL is aiming to be a professional soccer league based solely in Canada.



“If (the CPL and the Canadian Soccer Association) do our jobs right then the overall player pool gets deeper and the quality of the output of Canada gets better. Then we can have respectable showings at World Cup qualifiers and World Cups,” he said.



The focus of the league, which the CSA officially ratified this past weekend, will be the development of Canadian talent. It will differ from Major League Soccer in that it will require a higher mandatory amount of...