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Hearing that Canada will host the 2026 World Cup without Vancouver is like finding out your neighbour is throwing a party without inviting you.

It’s a bummer all right. I’m a soccer fan, and hosting two or three World Cup games at B.C. Place Stadium would have been pretty cool.

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But you know what? I’m good with it.

The World Cup deal peddled by FIFA, the corruption-riddled world governing body for soccer, was a total rip-off of B.C. taxpayers.

So as you dry your tears over this lost opportunity, just remember what FIFA wanted from you:

THE GAMES: The deal did not specify how many games Vancouver would have received: probably three, but it could have been fewer. And if you think we’d land marquee matchups like England versus France, think again.

The big games go to big TV markets. We’d get the leftovers: small-fry skirmishes in the early tournament rounds. Would that really be worth millions of your tax dollars?