World Cup matches in Canada led to 175 asylum applications "As of July 20, 2026, of the 26,111 persons who were previously granted FIFA-related temporary residence requests, 175 of them subsequently applied for asylum," IRCC said in a statement to this newspaper. The Ministry emphasized that the data includes only persons who stated "FIFA World Cup 26" in their requests for temporary residence. A request for a more detailed structure of those 175 cases, including data on how many players and how many members of the professional and supporting staff submitted requests, was not granted. According to available data on asylum applications submitted after entry with visitor visas, the applicants include citizens of China (25), Egypt (15), Ghana (25), Colombia (15), Senegal (10), Ecuador (5), Bangladesh (10), Nigeria (10), as well as five citizens each of Burundi, Nepal and Pakistan. This happened despite an earlier warning by IRCC that holders of tickets to FIFA matches could be refused entry to Canada if there is suspicion that they will not return to their home countries. Beloud