Niko Sigur Closes In on BC Place World Cup Dream

With 47 days to Canada's World Cup opener, Burnaby native Niko Sigur is edging toward a moment he started promising his family in 2018, when he was 14 years old in his parents' living room. According to TSN's feature on the Hajduk Split right back, Sigur told his father then that he would play for Canada at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He has not been off the depth chart since manager Jesse Marsch took over, and his Croatian club form through April has lifted a young Canadian talent into his most consequential month.

Sigur turned 22 last September and now anchors the right flank for Hajduk Split in the Croatian Prva HNL. According to FotMob, he has logged 26 league appearances, 1,960 minutes, one goal, two assists, and a 7.17 average rating across the 2025/26 season. He joined the Croatian giants in 2022 after a brief stint in Slovenia, has a contract through 2028, and his 79 senior appearances by age 21 anchored the timeline OneSoccer used when describing his rise.

For the road to 2026, this matters because stadium profiles carry tournament-level weight in a Cup where several venues will host their first competitive international fixtures in years, and BC Place will stage two of Canada's three group games. Sigur grew up around that building as a Whitecaps academy player, and the host-side narrative is no longer abstract for him; the trip from the lower bowl, where he was a CanMNT ball boy in 2019, to the back four feels closer than it has any right to feel. For a fuller view of how Vancouver fits the tournament, see vancouver-world-cup-2026">Vancouver's role at World Cup 2026.

"It's a dream, for sure. When I saw that Vancouver would get at least two Canada games, it was unbelievable," Sigur told TSN. He added: "Obviously, if we get through and we finish first, the next game is at BC Place, and then if we win that, the next game after that is also at BC Place. For me, personally, there's a lot of motivation going into the World Cup to play on that home turf in Vancouver, it doesn't get much better than that."

From Burnaby touchlines to Marsch's defensive shortlist

Sigur is competing with Toronto FC's Richie Laryea and New York Red Bulls' Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty for minutes at right back, with both named to the most recent home camp Canada Soccer announced on March 19. Marsch's framing in that release set the tone for how the staff is treating selection: "There's a real excitement in this group right now and playing at home in Canada is something the players never take for granted," he said. Sigur's case is built on his Croatia minutes and his ability to slide inside, a flexibility he discussed with OneSoccer.

"I'm going to get more responsibility, more minutes, and maybe even a little bit of pressure on me, but it's nothing I'm not used to," Sigur told OneSoccer. He also noted the tactical demand of the Canada job: "He's asked a lot more from me than what I'm used to in Croatia, especially defensively." That positional flexibility is a useful card for a 26-player squad balancing minutes across three group fixtures inside 12 days, with the right back rotation likely to extend if Alistair Johnston's hamstring recovery stays cautious.

Group B path runs through Toronto, then twice through BC Place

Per Fox Sports' April 2 schedule, Canada opens against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, June 12 at Toronto Stadium, then heads west to face Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24, both at BC Place in Vancouver. The Vancouver double is the centrepiece of the group, and the bracket geography under the new 48-team format magnifies finishing position. Readers planning the trip out west have a window for travel and accommodation that closes faster the deeper Canada might run, and the group-stage finale at BC Place is the fixture supporters tend to bookmark first.

Sigur's last home camp in March, the Iceland and Tunisia friendlies at BMO Field, was Marsch's last sustained look at the right back pool before the late-May squad lock. Canada's full Group B fixture schedule sits at the centre of the planning calendar for any reader who wants to map travel, broadcast windows, and Sigur's likely BC Place arc onto one page.

Sources

• TSN: Sigur on the verge of fulfilling improbable promise
• OneSoccer: Niko Sigur is pushing to become latest CanMNT Gold Cup breakout star
• Canada Soccer: CANMNT Squad Announced for Final Home Matches in Toronto
• Fox Sports: Canada World Cup 2026 schedule, locations, dates, times
• FotMob: Niko Sigur 2025/26 stats