Skip to content
World Cup in Toronto
World Cup in Toronto
  • World Cup Fans in Toronto
    • 2006 World Cup in Toronto
    • 2010 World Cup in Toronto
    • 2014 World Cup in Toronto
    • 2018 World Cup in Toronto
    • 2022 World Cup in Toronto
  • Where to Watch World Cup in Toronto 2026
    • Where to Watch World Cup in Toronto 2026
    • 2022 Archive
    • 2018 Archive
    • 2014 Archive
    • 2010 Archive
  • About the Project
    • About the Project
    • About the Photographer
    • Contact
World Cup in Toronto

World Cup in Toronto – Photography Project – Introduction

Joseph, June 3, 2014May 21, 2018

This project began in 2006 when I was young photographer in Toronto looking to take on something new and exciting. Having grown up in Toronto, I was always amazed at how the city transforms every four years into a kaleidoscope of flags and colours during the World Cup. In June of 2006, I journeyed across the Greater Toronto Area in search of fans from each of the 32 nations competing in the FIFA World Cup and document them with my camera during the highs and lows of watching a live game.

Three weeks, 800 km and 3500 photos later I had found fans of all 32 countries, from a single Ivory Coast fan watching a game in his apartment to 5,000 South Korean fans crammed into the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The project was featured on both CBC’s Metro Morning (Radio) and CBC’s News at 6 (TV) when it was completed in June of 2006, I think because it shows both the diversity of Toronto and the unity of sport through greatest tournament in the world.

All images were taken during a live television broadcast of a World Cup game, with the exception of one country where a re-broadcast was used. As a result, all of the the reactions and passions within the photos are live and on location, not recreated or staged after or before the event.

This project presents an alternative to typical Toronto World Cup photos; that is, fans waving flags in the street or viewers caught frozen with a flash. The images in this project use only the natural light provided so as not to interfere with those watching the games or the environment itself. As a result, many of the images are dark, due to the limited light available in darkened viewing areas. Some photos are blurry, due to the frenzy of the games most exciting moments. Joseph Michael felt this was the only way to take truly authentic pictures of viewers watching the World Cup.

In 2010, I had my first solo gallery exhibit, Waving Flags: Toronto’s World Cup Frenzy, and displayed my World Cup photos from 2006 running concurrently with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The exhibit was presented by f11 project and displayed at The Rivoli Lounge from June 6-July 11. This exhibit got some really fantastic media attention, be sure to check out the two interviews on CBC.

At the same time, for the 2010 World Cup I again went out across the GTA to find teams he had not photographed in 2006. With the exception of North Korea, I added 13 new teams to this project and improved on some teams I had not shot as well in 2006.

This year I’ll continue the search and pursue fans of the four teams he has not yet photographed Colombia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia.

If you are looking for a bar/location in the city to watch the World Cup, search for your favourite team on this site and it will show you where I’ve photographed those fans in the past. Also, be sure to check out my soon to be up-to-date map of the GTA with suggested locations for most countries.

Finally, if you have suggestions for where I should go to photograph World Cup fans in Toronto, PLEASE let me know!

Sincerely,
joseph

Related

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

2010 Slovenia 2010 World Cup Toronto

Slovenia – 2010

June 13, 2010April 28, 2018

Date: June 13, 2010 Score of game: Slovenia 1, Algeria 0 Location: Slovenija Centre, 739 Browns Line, Etobicoke Estimated number of fans at location: 275

Read More
2010

Serbia – 2010

June 13, 2010July 25, 2013

Date: June 13, 2010 Score of game: Serbia 0, Ghana 1 Location: Zam Restaurant and Bar, 1340 The Queensway Estimated number of fans at location: 45

Read More
2010 Italy World Cup Toronto Scallywags Bar

France – 2010

June 11, 2010April 28, 2018

Date: June 11, 2010 Score of game: France 0, Uraguay 0 Location: Scallywags Bar near Yonge St and St Clair Ave West Estimated number of fans at location: 15

Read More

Recent Posts

  • Argentina – 2022 – Final – Champions – St Clair Avenue W
  • Senegal – 2022
  • Morocco – 2022
  • England – 2022
  • Poland – 2022

Categories

Teams/Location/Year

2006 (33) 2010 (21) 2014 (19) 2018 (22) 2022 (8) Argentina (4) Belgium (2) Bosnia and Herzegovina (1) Brazil (3) Cameroon (2) Canada (1) Chile (2) Colombia (2) Croatia (4) Denmark (2) Ecuador (2) Egypt (1) England (4) FInals (4) France (3) Germany (3) Ghana (2) Greece (2) Introduction (2) Iran (4) Italy (2) Japan (2) Media (2) Mexico (2) Morocco (2) Netherlands (2) Neutral Site (1) Nigeria (2) Poland (2) Portugal (3) Russia (2) Saudi Arabia (2) Senegal (2) Spain (2) Sweden (2) Switzerland (2) Togo (1) Ukraine (1) United States (3) Uruguay (2)

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2025 - Joseph Michael Howarth
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}